Alright, let's get one thing straight: anyone who's surprised that consumer sentiment is tanking has been living under a rock. Or maybe in a hermetically sealed vault filled with gold bars. I dunno.
The "Everything's Fine" Lie is Over
The University of Michigan survey says consumer sentiment is at a near-record low, hitting levels not seen since the peak pandemic panic of 2022. Down 6% in November. Economists (lol, "economists") expected 53.0; we got 50.3. Big whoop. Numbers just confirm what anyone with a pulse already knows: things are BAD.
Joanne Hsu, director of the survey, says people are worried about the government shutdown. Okay, sure, that's part of it. But let's be real: it's the whole damn enchilada. The shutdown is just the cherry on top of a mountain of economic despair. US consumer sentiment drops to near record low as shutdown persists
And ofcourse, we can't even get reliable data because the government is, you know, SHUT DOWN. So we're relying on ADP (who?) and Challenger, Gray & Christmas (who??) to tell us what's going on. ADP says 42,000 jobs added. Challenger says 153,074 job cuts. So which is it? Or are they both just making it up as they go along? Probably the latter.
Then we get Alex Jacquez from Groundwork Collaborative chiming in, blaming Trump. Because of course. It's always someone else's fault, right? "Economic mismanagement" is the buzzword. As if the last few years have been a goddamn picnic. Give me a break. They expect us to believe this nonsense, and honestly...
Even McDonald's is Feeling the Heat
It ain't just surveys and reports, either. The restaurant industry is screaming bloody murder. Chipotle, McDonald's, Wingstop... they're all saying the same thing: low-income customers are GONE. Vanished. Poof. Some restaurant chains are sounding the alarm about consumers
McDonald's CEO says traffic among low-income folks is down "nearly double digits." Double digits! And they're absorbing the cost of some Extra Value Meals? Oh, how generous. It's like putting a band-aid on a severed limb. The average cost of a McDonald's menu item is up 40% since 2019. Forty. Percent. No wonder people are eating at home. Or, you know, not eating.
And Pizza Hut might get sold off. Pizza Hut! What's next, Applebee's getting repossessed?
Sweetgreen is getting hammered, too. Apparently, millennials (those poor, avocado-toast-loving fools) are feeling the pinch. Sales to the 25-35 demographic are down 15%. Fifteen! Percent! Maybe they should stop buying $18 salads and learn to cook something. Just a thought.
What does it all mean? It means the "consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of U.S. economic activity" line is about to become a whole lot less true.
The Fed's Living in a Fantasy World
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its Consumer Finance Institute. Because when the economy is circling the drain, what better to do than throw a party and pat yourself on the back?
Some Fed speaker is bragging about how they used to process millions of checks from families paying credit card bills. Checks! We're talking about checks in 2025? Are you kidding me? It's like bragging about owning a horse-drawn carriage in the age of self-driving cars.
They're using "machine learning and big data techniques" now. Oh, goodie. More algorithms to tell us what we already know: we're screwed.
The Fed's patting itself on the back for the LIFE Survey. Okay, whatever. Surveys, reports, indexes... it's all just noise. The reality is staring us in the face. Americans are drowning in debt, prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in Washington seems to give a damn.
So, What's the Real Story?
The real story is that we're being sold a bill of goods. We're told the economy is strong, that things are getting better, that "transitory inflation" is just a blip. It's all a lie. The numbers don't lie, but the people spinning them sure do. Maybe I'm just being a cynic, but it sure feels like we're headed for a brick wall. And fast.