Man... The Media is sure giving Trump

[busterbrown]

a lot of credit for the economic growth we are supposedly experiencing..

I've been in the retail business from 2010 and I have seen very little increase in sales over the past couple of years... Maybe farmers, industrialists, Car Manufactures, high end retailers are doing well...but IMO Main Street retail is stagnate.. The middle class is not walking around with extra money in their wallets.. Is this not true?.. It's been this way for at least 5 years.. The Tax break again IMO did not help the middle class break into a spending spree as Republican's claim.

By the way could any of you economists out there please explain why Trump is getting credit for the current uptick ..

[msongs]

1. generally the prez gets credit..and blame for the economy while in office nt

[busterbrown]

2. Yep! Thats what I thought.

It's Bullshit.. Don't you think?... No matter who's in office.

[wasupaloopa]

3. Trump hasn't done anything to boost the

economy.

The economy started improving before trump was president. Consumers have been driving the economy.

[Totally Tunsie]

4. The internet has not been kind to you either.

How does retail survive while fighting Amazon, etc.?

[busterbrown]

8. I'll tell you this.. When you are buying a gift from Amazon

You never know what kind of condition it's in by the time it arrives.. Sometimes it can not be returned and turned around fast enough...to meet the timeline for the gift giving...

Our business thrives on our book sales.. We are moving a lot of very high end books in Music, Woman's Movement, Food, Design, Architecture,Booze,Pot, famous writers etc. My buyer has an amazing ability to pick the right books.. Remind you though, Books are about only 25% of business..

[Totally Tunsie]

12. I made the mistake of ordering a bunch of paperbacks from Amazon as a gift.

Absolutely could not give them as intended. They were for my sister-in-law who is an avid reader, but the font was so small (probably an 8 font), so light in color, and lined so closely that they would have been unreadable for her (some vision difficulty)...and she would have let me know it! I've never seen font like that in any other paperbacks, and wonder if they were a special printing for Amazon. Being the terrific books they were, I ended up keeping them for myself, and had to gift her otherwise.

[busterbrown]

13. That must have been frustrating..

but glad you received enjoyment from them..

But when buying a gift from Amazon intended for an important person in your life.. Can be hazardous !

Give yourself plenty of time.

[Totally Tunsie]

16. What a pleasant response. +1

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

17. Architecture books you say? You wouldn't happen to be near Chicago by chance? I'm always looking for

local book sellers.

[haele]

5. Because GDP growth (or fall) is only a fractional measure of the health of the national economy.

And he claimed his economy will see 4% growth every year, totally ignoring the GDP growth President Obama saw in his first administration after Bush's Big Bust. So this is being touted as a "campaign promise kept", even though when the numbers are actually studied, it's pretty obvious that it's being made by an uptick of huge foreign purchases under pre-tariff pricing. You're in retail - the greatest production quarters in manufacturing are typically based on seasonal situations, correct? The production rush is usually based around Christmas shopping, after April (tax refunds), correct?

The good journalists are talking to real market economists, and being cautious on making a big deal about this.
Especially since wages are still flat, even with "full employment". And there's quite a few lay-offs in manufacturing and processing being planned not only due to the tariffs, but due to the latest round of tax-cut driven stock buy-backs and dividend disbursals - and re-investments in technology at the plants.
More robots means "more productive" employees - doing the job of five with one.

Let's see what Q3 and Q4 come in at before pointing 4.1% growth as something other than a market adjustment to the trade war now in progress.

Haele

[busterbrown]

10. Thanks haele

I wish MSM would start talking about what you stated.

[busterbrown]

15. I'm lucky cause I'm in the city of Burbank..

lots of business from Studios and Movie goers.. There are about 30 screens within a 5 minute walk to my store... You are absolutely correct about Christmas... I'll tell you this... and I believe it.... The business you do during December as an independent retailer..... Is your total net profit for the year...The other 11 months sales take care of Purchasing, Rent, Taxes, Air Conditioning, Payroll, Supplies etc.. Thats how important Christmas is to the independent boutique owner..

[Cicada]

6. Trump is underperforming comparable economies

Vox has a chart showing how well the “doppelgänger” economy is doing. A group of countries whose economic performance tracked the US economy pre Trump is plotted against the US economy. Before trump the doppelgänger is the same, by definition. But then after Trump the US has fallen a bit behind the comparable nations.

[Baitball Blogger]

7. I think you're right.

I don't see any evidence to support the numbers that they're pulling out of their ass.

[Wellstone ruled]

9. So people forgot what Trump said about the Economic

measurements back in early 2017. Do you remember he said we will make the numbers look pretty. This is Trump world where black is white and down is up.

[Mad-in-Mo]

11. I don't see the "great economy" either

but I suppose numbers don't lie --- oh, unless they are Trumpkin's numbers. Nope, I don't think Main Street USA is doing so well.

[Ilsa]

14. My guess is that anyone in the middle class who

received a big tax cut, like $200-300/month, is using that money to pay down debt on anything from credit cards to car loans or home mortgages.