I don't interpret this as a sign of recovery in activity. Rather, the increase in unemployment of the last six to eight months has been too brutal and exaggerated not to generate this type of correction. |
I don't think they are too sad. This would have been a costly measure, with few benefits. The economy at least is better off without it. |
I think it's a very good thing that they didn't go ahead with this, that they were blocked. I didn't think it was a good measure because they would lose revenue. |
The consumer spending figures are better that what we were expecting... The October revision is important and it shows the trend in the fourth quarter is positive. |
The drop is less marked than we were expecting, but this deterioration in confidence is nonetheless clear and comes very soon after the recent cycle of recovery, which is unusual. |
The question is whether this has signed away the possibility of reform in the longer term. |
We have already had strong July car sales, and now with consumer confidence this strong we get the impression households could repeat the spending spree we saw last summer. |