The surge in the stock market this year – restoring much of the wealth that had been lost during the financial meltdown that struck in 2007 – has masked the unevenness of the recovery among Americans since 2009. A Federal Reserve board analysis this week spelled out the reason: stock […] Read more »
Reading the Dow, Housing Rallies
It was a good week for the economy. Housing values are climbing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up in record territory. And consumer confidence is at a five-year high. After a long recession and a slow recovery, that news clearly has political implications, but beware reading too much into […] Read more »
What Does an Improving Economy Mean for 2014?
Good economic times are good for incumbents. After all, voters are more apt to look for change in tough times than they are in good ones. Significant economic anxiety contributed to the “wave” elections of 2008 and 2010. In 2012, the economy improved just enough to help President Obama win […] Read more »
Confidence Little Changed Amid Improving Views on Economy
Consumer sentiment last week hovered near a five-year high as more Americans said the economy was improving and their finances were mending. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index was at minus 29.7 in the period ended May 26 compared with minus 29.4 a week earlier. [cont.] Lorraine Woellert, Bloomberg Read more »
Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® Improves in May
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had improved in April, increased again in May. The Index now stands at 76.2 (1985=100), up from 69.0 in April. The Present Situation Index increased to 66.7 from 61.0. The Expectations Index improved to 82.4 from 74.3 last month. [cont.] Conference Board Read more »
How Republicans and Democrats see the same economy through different eyes
One of the most fundamental truisms in politics — that people vote with their pocketbooks — has become less clear cut in our culture of intense partisanship. Take Wisconsin. The state trails the nation in job growth, only you’re a lot less likely to think so if you’re a Republican […] Read more »