EconomicCrisis.US

U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly rose to 53.5 in August, the Conference Board said, as Americans became somewhat more positive about the short-term outlook for the economy.

A Bloomberg survey had expected the index to rise to 51.0 in August from 50.4 in July. It hit a record low of 25.3 in April 2009.

In August, two of the index’s three components rose, with consumers’ expectations for both the job market and the future economic conditions showing improvement.

Consumers expecting more jobs in the months ahead rose in August to 14.6% from 14.2% in July, while those anticipating fewer jobs decreased to 19.4% from 20.9%.
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Are we in a period of gloomy growth? An era in which Americans are pessimistic and sour but buying more anyway?

The Conference Board reported Tuesday morning that consumer confidence declined in July for the second straight month. Worse, consumers’ expectations for the near future declined sharply. “Concerns about business conditions and the labor market are casting a dark cloud over consumers that is not likely to lift until the job market improves,” said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board’s Consumer Research Center.
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In U.S. history, there may have been no better time to own a junk car, a rattling old fridge and a leaking dishwasher.

On the heels of its ballyhooed “Cash for Clunkers” program for cars, the federal government is expected to finalize details in the coming weeks of another tax-supported shopping extravaganza, known as “Cash for Appliances.”

Supported by $300 million from the economic stimulus, the program will offer rebates to consumers who buy energy-efficient refrigerators, dishwashers, air conditioners and other appliances to replace their older models.

And like the $3 billion cars program that gave consumers money for swapping their clunkers for more fuel-efficient rides, the appliance initiative seems destined to inspire shoppers, drive up sales for a while and profoundly divide economists over how much lasting good this chunk of government spending will do for the economy.
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Nouriel Roubini, the economist who predicted the global economic crisis, said a forecast by investor Jim Rogers that gold will double to at least $2,000 an ounce is “utter nonsense.”

There is no inflation or “near-depression” to drive gold prices that high, Roubini said today at the Inside Commodities Conference in New York. If a severe depression came to pass, with investors buying canned goods and hiding out in log cabins, “maybe you want some gold in that scenario,” Roubini said.

“Maybe it will reach $1,100 or so but $1,500 or $2,000 is nonsense,” Roubini said. Gold rose to a record $1,096.20 today on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division on speculation that central banks and investors will purchase the metal to hedge against a declining dollar.
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