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"Consumers Turn Sour on Inflation Amid Concern About Trump’s Tariffs" From US NEWS And WORLD REPORT. [1]
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Date: 2025-02-08
US News And World Report states that the University of Michigan’s monthly sentiment index on American consumers view of the American economy has decreased the last month. The reason is simple: Americans fear that Donald Trump’s tariffs are going to be inflationary. Seems that some people are figuring out that the Sun rises in the East and there is this little thing called the Law of Gravity.
Shocking. Simpling shocking.
The index fell for the second consecutive month to a reading of 67.8 from 71.1 in January – a 4.6% decrease. All of the components of the index fell, with a 12% drop in desire to buy durable goods, which could be adversely affected by heavy import levies. While the index of current conditions fell by 7.2%, the index measuring future expectations suffered a smaller drop of 2.9%. Expectations of personal finances declined by about 6% to its lowest level since October 2023. Declines in sentiment spanned age, political affiliation and income levels. “The decrease was pervasive, with Republicans, Independents, and Democrats all posting sentiment declines from January, along with consumers across age and wealth groups,” survey director Joanne Hsu said in a statement.
Emphasis is mine.
There is no data on the breakdown by political party presented in the article, but I’m sure that the souring of the mood about future inflations was steepest with Democrats with independents taking second place. My bet is that Republicans are still mostly “bullish” on the economy because now that a Republican is in the White House everything turns up roses. I’m also reasonably confident that Democrats understand what a tariff actually is — a sales tax on Americans.
Independents might be starting to realize, “Oh damn! I’ll be paying for Trump’s tariffs!” Republicans will be “NO, China will pay those tariffs! And why the hell are my egg prices still rising?! DAMN BIDEN!”
Nevermind about bird flu or that Trump has taken down information on the spread of bird flu to cattle and some humans. Or that fewer undocumented workers means that crops rot in the fields.
But I digress.
I have this nagging feeling that those consumer sentiments will continue to dip over the coming year.
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https://www.dailykos.com/story/2025/2/8/2302419/--Consumers-Turn-Sour-on-Inflation-Amid-Concern-About-Trump-s-Tariffs-From-US-NEWS-And-WORLD-REPORT
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