September's Retail Sales: "Splurge-y Spending" or Just Plain Overspending?
Okay, so September's retail sales are finally here, dragged kicking and screaming out of the government shutdown. Up 0.2%, according to the Census Bureau. And the "experts" are saying consumers are "pumping the brakes" on their spending. Right. Give me a break.
Pumping the brakes? More like slamming into a brick wall because they can't afford gas to get to the damn brakes.
Lauren Saidel-Baker, some economist from ITR Economics, says it's a "K-shaped economy." Oh, isn't that cute? A little alphabet soup to describe the fact that the rich are still doing just fine while the rest of us are eating ramen noodles for the third night in a row. "The lower end [is] getting squeezed, while the middle to upper income bracket is a little bit more comfortable at the moment.” No kidding.
What's really infuriating is the way they spin this like it's some kind of natural phenomenon. Like the economy just decided to be K-shaped. As if years of wage stagnation, corporate greed, and trickle-down economics have nothing to do with it.
And then there's the PPI—Producer Price Index—up 0.3% overall, 0.1% excluding food and energy. Saidel-Baker calls it "sticky and persistent" inflation. I call it highway robbery. We're spending more because things simply cost more. It's not rocket science, people. What September's retail sales and PPI report show us
Black Friday: A Race to the Bottom?
"Pre-Black Friday, those real early bird shoppers, they have been out in force,” Saidel-Baker chirps. Yeah, because they're desperate. They're fighting over discounted TVs like it's the damn Hunger Games. It's not a sign of economic strength; it's a sign of desperation.
I remember when Black Friday was just one day, not a whole damn month of "deals" designed to bleed us dry. Now, it's like retailers are in a race to the bottom, trying to see how little they can charge while still squeezing every last drop of profit out of us. And we're all lining up like lemmings to participate.
Speaking of lining up, have you seen the price of concert tickets lately? I tried to get tickets to see a band I liked back in high school, and it was going to cost me more than my first car! What kind of world are we living in where you need a second mortgage to enjoy a night out?
The Illusion of Choice
The thing that really gets under my skin is the illusion of choice. We think we're making decisions, but we're really just being manipulated by advertising, marketing, and good old-fashioned peer pressure. We buy things we don't need to impress people we don't like, using money we don't have.
And the worst part? We know it. We know we're being played, but we can't seem to stop ourselves. It's like we're addicted to the dopamine rush of buying something new, even if it's just another piece of plastic destined for the landfill.
But hey, at least the economy is "growing," right?
So, What's the Real Story?
The whole thing is a house of cards built on debt and delusion. The "experts" can spin it however they want, but the truth is staring us right in the face: the system is rigged, and we're all getting screwed.