U.S. consumer confidence declined sharply in January, hitting the lowest level since 2014 as Americans grow increasingly concerned about their financial prospects.
The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index cratered 9.7 points to 84.5 in January, falling below even the lowest readings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for their income, business conditions and the job market tumbled 9.5 points to 65.1, well below 80, the marker that can signal a recession ahead. It’s the 12th consecutive month that reading has come in under 80.
I definitely think fucking over the economy is meant to make people give up or join the dark side out of desperation. It’s just another piece of the destroying an American institutions puzzle to chip away any resolve people have to hold on to them. Like intentionally making public education so shitty by removing things that hadn’t already been driven into the ground through their previous attacks (like head start programs), so that nobody fights too hard when you just come out and say you plan close the department of education. Do that with every federal agency/department and eventually why even have a federal government at all?
The comparison to the USSR is no coincidence, and I’m definitely a broken record about this, but the Heritage Foundation was coincidentally doing some very sordid things in the U.S.S.R. just prior to and after it’s collapse. It’s insane to me that this isn’t being brought up anytime somebody mentions Project 2025 and Oligarchy. This should be something every American knows about, especially at this moment in history. The oligarchy of modern day Russia didn’t just happen as a natural consequence of democracy. It was intentionally created by greedy men who opposed public oversight and accountability.
(Also, definitely no coincidence the Trump administration and their friends are currently trying to get rid of the federal reserve while introducing their very own private crypto banks).
To be clear, I have much more faith in the U.S. prevailing as a country and true democracy re-emerging from the ashes of Trump 2.0 than I do in the economy. It’s going to be catastrophic no doubt, but;
A. It seems like the U.S. economy has been rigged to support the most wealthy and privileged at the expense of the poor for quite some time. Really for my entire life and long before that (no taxes for the wealthy, bailouts for corporations and big banks).
B. I think more people being forced to recognize and confront the fact that the rigged economy is the result of policy created by the same men now trying to use their power and money to do the same thing to every aspect of U.S. government (deregulate and privatize), might end up being a catalyst for change that’s been needed. Increasing taxes for the wealthy and revamping and reinforcing banking regulations have both been long overdue. In other words, rebuild and remodel.
I think one thing the oligarchs didn’t count on was their bullshit strengthening solidarity among the working class in the U.S. Or the idea of abolishing parts of the government back firing on the parts they wanted to keep (hence the increasing public support for abolishing ICE and police militarization, and surveillance), while strengthening the things they wanted to tear down like democracy, regulations, public accountability, and appreciation for the “regulatory beuracrats” and “paper pushers.” The things they blame for “stagnation” are the things that are supposed to exist to get in their way before they can steamroll over the rights and protections for the American public.