Of snickers bars and blowhards

      In today's NYT, the chief economist for UBS wealth management argues the average consumer should place less emphasis on the price of snickers bars and more on the price of wide screen TVs.  Prices of so called durable consumer goods have fallen precipitously over the past year.  Unfortunately for Joe Biden, the price of snickers bars remains higher than last year.  Hence, consumer malaise.

     This is another BS argument.   A couple of months ago it was the price of gasoline which was spooking the American consumer.   Now that gas is below $3.00/gallon in many places, economists need another whipping boy.  On to the snickers theory of economic precarity.  The simple fact is right wing media has led a relentless drumbeat of misleading, cherrypicked data showing the economy in the worst possible light.   Meanwhile, if you asked these same, mostly republican consumers about their own situation, most are satisfied.   Coming next week, the toilet paper theory of consumer confidence!