In a CNBC interview, "Consumers Are on 'Tenterhooks': Lauder," a senior executive of a business that sells products which have, historically at least, been somewhat recession-proof, doesn't exactly sound like he believes the recovery in spending that economists, "strategists," policymakers, politicians, and investors have been counting on is close at hand.
American consumers are on "tenterhooks," said William Lauder, executive chairman of cosmetics maker Estee Lauder.
"The consumer is back with a certain level of confidence...but if (consumers are) given an excuse, (they'll) pull back," Lauder told CNBC.
According to Lauder, American consumers are "more binary" than consumers in other countries. They tend to be either "in" or "out."
Long lines of people camping out to buy Apple's latest iPhone show that consumers are willing to buy the items that they want, but Lauder expects retailers have to make the products worth it for them.
Wall Street Reform: Politicians Lie, Media Applauds, America Suffers
What does it mean for us?
It means that the same people who brought you these horrible changes — rising wealth discrepancy, massive unemployment and a crumbling infrastructure – have now further institutionalized the policies that will keep the causes of these problems firmly in place.
Meanwhile, all involved in the facade try to pretend that this should be considered a success because, gosh, real financial reform is just too hard and those crafty banksters will just outsmart us anyhow. Many in the media are either too complicit, too confused or too lazy to contradict this spin, but the rest of us shouldn’t buy that BS. Real and lasting financial reform is actually quite easy to implement — and the last time we had a crisis of this magnitude, we kept the banksters in check for 70 years.
http://tinyurl.com/27kxtsm
Posted by: here's an excuse... | June 25, 2010 at 09:43 PM