U.S. consumers cut debt for 5th straight month

U.S. consumers cut debt for 5th straight month

mdn.mainichi.jp

Outstanding U.S. consumer debt fell by $10.3 billion, or 4.9 percent at an annual rate, to $2.5 trillion, the Federal Reserve said. That's a much steeper cut than the $4.7 billion analysts expected, according to Thomson Reuters.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Seems like the oil greasing the gears of the U.S. is running out. Not only are people spending less money, they are paying off their debt, and not acquiring new debt. Good for us, America. We are paying off our debt off and breaking the chains of our servitude. I know that I am never going to take on debt again, excepting houses. My new attitude is that if I don't have the cash for it, then I must not need it.



mdn.mainichi.jp
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by tamusan



S & F

Great find.

Don't expect too much action on this news. It's not Gloom and Doom or Anti-American/Pro B.R.I.C. enough to get any real play.


[edit on 8-8-2009 by SLAYER69]

This is not news TPTB want us to hear. This economy revolves on servicable debt intrest. People not borrowing money and paying off existing debt will devalue credit card and bank stocks,as their cash cow is starting to dry up. This is some of the greatest news I've heard in a long time. Pay the leaches off!! Let them starve to death of begin feeding on eachother.

Hey, thanks for the interest!

I am curious about next months report. With the supposed popularity if the csh for clunkers, maybe people will be lured into getting a little more debt. That would be most beneficial to the U.S, and I believe that is why they have extended the program.

I just wonder how much of that debt was paid penny on the dollar
or bankruptcy.

Hmmmmm..


Lets see.

Savings are going up. Debt going down. Something seems to be headed in the right direction. More non Gloom and Doom

Will Americans continue to save?

The U.S. savings rate is now the highest it's been since 1998. Tess Vigeland talks to former Undersecretary of Commerce Robert Shapiro about whether he thinks the rate will stick.

[edit on 8-8-2009 by SLAYER69]

reply to post by SLAYER69


I guess this shows that if we dig around a little we can find the silver lining.
What the U.S. needs to do is start to manufacture something other than consumer debt.

Originally posted by tamusan
reply to post by SLAYER69

 

I guess this shows that if we dig around a little we can find the silver lining.
What the U.S. needs to do is start to manufacture something other than consumer debt.

Since you'll never be able to compete with the engineering prowess of the Germans, the innovations of the Japanese or the efficiency of the Chinese, that's not gonna happen unless you'll agree to extremely low wages.

reply to post by eldard


United States to Allow More Hi-Tech Exports to China

Jul. 31 - The United States will soon allow more high-tech exports to China as part of the issues agreed upon during the recently concluded China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue this week.

“The U.S. pledged to facilitate exports of high-technology products from the U.S. to China,” Vice-Premier Wang Qishan told China Daily adding that the dialogue was a “full success.”

It's one of the last cards we have to play and we are just about to give it away. The Chinese will simply take the items or technology and Back/Reverse engineer it and wammo a new Christmas gift item. You know for a fact that once this starts we will see very cheap items showing up on our shelves that could have been made here.

Just yet another example of TPTB looking out for our best interests.




They are set to pass us by in the next 5 to 10 years. Is now really the right time to give our Technological edge away?

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/9c4701030040.gif[/atsimg]
China's Gains in Manufacturing Stir Friction Across the Pacific

By TIMOTHY AEPPEL
China is on its way to surpassing the U.S. as the world's largest manufacturer far sooner than expected. The question is, does that matter?

In terms of actual size, the answer is, no. But if size is a proxy for relative health of each nation's sector, the answer is yes.

Anyone who walks the aisles of a U.S. retailer might think China already is the world's largest manufacturer. But, in fact, the U.S. retains that distinction by a wide margin. In 2007, the latest year for which data are available, the U.S. accounted for 20% of global manufacturing; China was 12%.

The gap, though, is closing rapidly. According to IHS/Global Insight, an economic-forecasting firm in Lexington, Mass., China will produce more in terms of real value-added by 2015. Using value-added as a measure avoids the problem of double-counting by tallying the value created at each step of an extended production process.

Even more Non Gloom and Doom
U.S. productivity surges

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. output per worker rose at its fastest pace in six years during the second quarter as businesses wrung more from shrinking staff in a sign that recovery from recession will be slow and unlikely to create a surge in hiring.

A Labor Department report on Tuesday showed nonfarm productivity, a gauge of hourly output per worker, jumped at a 6.4 percent annual rate, the sharpest since the third quarter of 2003 after a 0.3 percent gain in the January-March quarter.