Monday, January 20, 2014

The retail death spiral

A little sad.  Zero Hedge: "What recovery?  Sears and JC Penney are dying."

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bring back Roebuck!

Nigel Tufnel said...

The article centers around old-school brick and mortar stores and blames their decline on the economic debacle that is being covered up by the vast liberal media conspiracy. The surge in online retail during the same period isn't mentioned. Unless you've made some very bad decisions your 401(k) should be at least 20-40% bigger now.

Keep repeating until it feels truthy: America hungers for a return to the wise stewardship that led us to 2008.

Eric said...

You know I wasn't focusing on the "what recovery" angle so much as the passing of two retail giants.

But - zing! - you got me with that 2008 jab, back when I was still in my 30s. Never gets old. I remember it like was yesterday: the national debt was only $9 trillion, we didn't have a record number of people on food stamps, and drops in the unemployment rate were tied to jobs instead of people dropping out of the workforce to Carter-era levels.

Year 5 of this Obama recovery is going to be awesome...unless it's not, then 2008.

Anonymous said...

In GW Bush's first five years, the number of food stamp recipients increased 67%. Through BH Obama's first five years, the number of food stamp recipients has increased 59%.

The difference in the two economic downturns faced by incoming Bush and incoming Obama was a lot more than 8%, too.

Eric said...

The "reoovery" allegedly started in 2009 and a record percentage of the population is now on food stamps, somewhere between 15-20% depending on sources.

Anonymous said...

The number of Americans on food stamps went up under sharply under Bush, has continued to rise nearly as sharply under Obama, and you're going with "today is the most ever"?

That's like looking at a football team that was losing 24-0 at halftime, then 47-0 at the end of the game, and saying "WHERE was the fourth quarter defense?"

The President you must adore is Bill Clinton. Six consecutive years in which the total of food stamp recipients got smaller.

Eric said...

I don't know if you're being deliberately obtuse but comparing percentage increases versus different baselines is a completely useless comparison. It's similar to the Obama administration saying "deficits are falling faster than ever!" after driving them up to record levels.

Here's a graph showing the percentage of population on food stamps at a record of 15%:

http://www.trivisonno.com/wp-content/uploads/Food-Stamps-Percent.jpg

And here's another story saying it's at 20%:

http://hotair.com/archives/2014/01/22/usda-record-20-percent-of-american-households-used-food-stamps-in-2013/

Hope and change.

Anonymous said...

Whereas proportional rises in gasoline prices or drops in the Dow Jones average are compelling data points. Or at least they were, when they were moving to Obama’s disadvantage. Today it’s all about food stamps, don’tcha know.

The best part of that second link is Hot Air's repeated dismissal of the economic “recovery,” alongside Hot Air’s simultaneous bafflement as to how food stamp usage could be rising. Also, we learn, “The Obama administration has an unfortunately deliberate penchant for talking out of both sides of its mouth.”

Both of your food stamp charts agree that the burst of increase under Obama occurred primarily from 2008-2011, and has slackened since then. Sorry, you were saying something about Nigel Tufnel’s ludicrous, outdated “2008” jab?

Eric said...

So Obama very slightly slowed the increase in food stamp usage on the way to the highest rate since the Depression? It's a win!

The reality-based community, ladies and gentlemen.

Concerned in Constantinople said...

That's a very weak counter. Are you feeling well? A little lightheaded, maybe? Could you use some food stamps?