Bloomberg reports that retails sales fell 2.1% in September - the biggest decrease this year.
Know what that means? It means the "Age of Thrift" is here...and that consumers really are cutting back - just like we said they would.
And it means that the consumer economy is not going to return to robust growth anytime soon. And it means, too, that people will find it hard to find jobs for a very long time.
Another thing it means is that housing prices are not likely to recover - not in our lifetimes. That was a once-a-century bubble and it has blown up.
Mortgage lenders say they expect the peak in foreclosures to come about a year from now. As for the bottom of price declines, you can expect that in 2013 or beyond. A housing bubble typically takes prices down for six years, says a study by professors Reinhart and Rogoff. But this was not a typical bubble; it was an extraordinary bubble. Seems logical that the correction will be extraordinarily deep and long too.
And it also means that this stock market rally is very vulnerable. The stock market and the economy seem to be reading different newspapers!
The Dow fell 14 points yesterday. It could begin a major drop any day. That's why our 'Crash Alert' flag is flying from our London headquarters.
Yesterday, we reported the curious fact that consumer spending as a percentage of the GDP had increased. But it only increased because the other parts of the GDP - notably business spending and investment - fell off even faster.
With output falling...sales falling...and investment (in new plant and equipment) falling even faster...who's going to hire new workers? Not many companies. And which companies are going to invest in young workers...who will have to be trained - sometimes over a period of many years - before they are really productive? Not many.
It's the "Lost Generation," says BusinessWeek. Unemployment nationwide is officially 9.8%. But for young people the rate is nearly twice that level - at 18%.
Their elders aren't doing so well either.
"Baby boomers working longer hours, for less," says a Financial Times headline. What do you expect? Their currency is going down in value. Their customers are disappearing. Their retirement savings disappeared with housing prices. They can't even borrow money anymore.
David Rosenberg:
"Now that lenders have started to respond to their record-high delinquency rates by rationing credit, a mad scramble for cash is occurring to replace the loans - food stamp usage is up 22% year-over- year, pawn shop business is up nearly 40%, and there is a tidal wave of applications for Social Security disability benefits that are not explained alone by workplace mishaps."
Boomers have no choice. They need money. So they work harder, and longer. And they get paid less. Why? Because prices are falling. Even the price of labor. It's a deflationary world.
Meanwhile, The New York Times reports, "China consolidates its lead in global trade."
This headline is a little like the announcement that consumer spending is a bigger part of the economy. It might lead you to think that global trade is growing - or, at least that the Chinese part of global trade is growing. Not at all! Global trade is still shrinking. Chinese exports too. It's just that China's part of the global marketplace is increasing...because America and Europe are losing market share. China is gaining market share because it competes on price. And price competition is what is driving this market.
No discount? No sale!
Power and wealth are shifting east. No doubt about it. The Chinese took over the Hummer this week. And they are even building a 'big plane' - the C919 - to compete against Boeing and Airbus.
Is there any business they can't compete in? We don't know...but we're counting on them to stay out of financial publishing at least until we retire!
Bill Bonner
for The Daily Reckoning Australia
P.S. to get The Daily Reckoning direct to your inbox sign up to our free e-mail newsletter or if you prefer to use RSS, subscribe to the Daily Reckoning RSS feed.
Related Articles:
- Bear Markets Do Not End With Stocks Still Trading at Nearly 20 Times Earnings
- No Way Today’s Economy is Going Back to What it Was Pre-2007
- What’s a Consumer Economy Need in Order to Keep Growing?
- Feds’ Plan is to Reflate the Economy
- The Percentage of the U.S. Economy Devoted to Consumer Spending Went Up and Up
About the Author
Best-selling investment author Bill Bonner is the founder and president of Agora Publishing, one of the world's most successful consumer newsletter companies. Owner of both Fleet Street Publications and MoneyWeek magazine in the UK, he is also author of the free daily e-mail The Daily Reckoning.
Comment by prozak on 15 October 2009:
"And they are even building a 'big plane' - the C919 - to compete against Boeing and Airbus"
I hope I never fly on it.
I am afraid to say the Chinese (and asian generally) quality control is somewhat lacking especially in high-tec engineering. My experiece is with carbon fibre, pre-preg and GRP Yacht building in Asia and that was bad enough.... Generally it takes a LOT of time and a western "foreman" who is really on the ball to get good quality construction out of an asian builder. It seems culturally engrained to cut corners or "bodge" wherever they can.
Having said that... eventually they get there and produce fine product....at a very reasonable price.... I would just check what the build number is on the plane you are flying on before getting on board... don't fly on the first 10!