Drop in consumer confidence in the ailing economy
Markets finished at record lows in 2008, but perhaps more significant than the final number, is that the volume of sales has dropped. This can be seen as an indicator that consumer confidence is extremely low. Some investors got burned in the market drop and the news is filled with lost savings due to Bernard Madoff’s massive financial fraud. The net result is that people aren’t interested in investing right now. To discuss this loss of consumer confidence we are joined by Roger Lowenstein, a contributor to the New York Times Magazine and author of “While America Aged: How Pension Debts Ruined General Motors, Stopped the NYC Subways, Bankrupted San Diego and Loom as the Next Financial Crisis.”
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