Consumerist
Rising Food, Gas Prices, Force Stormtroopers To Carpool
Paxton Holley submitted the above Storm-Troopers-go-shopping awesomeness to The Consumerist Flickr pool. They also bought Colt 45, and Amstel Light.
Posts Tagged “
Economy
”
Oil has hit a new high of $126 a barrel. If you listen quietly you can hear the sound of Delta and United softly weeping. [AP]
photos
inflation
Consumer Price Index Shows That Consumers Like Eating Out, Gasoline
The New York Times made a pretty cool graph out of the Consumer Price Index, which tracks changes in prices for many consumer goods over the past year. Turns out, gas prices went up. More »
Craiglist's for-sale listings hit 15 million in March, almost double a year ago, as people sell off stuff in an effort to make ends meet. [AP]
personal finance
Consumer Bankruptcies Up Nearly 50% From A Year Ago
The number of people filing for bankruptcy continues to increase, as bad mortgages and the rising price of [insert noun here] squeezes every last penny out of debt-laden consumers. The American Bankruptcy Institute says the number of filings was up 47.7% in April from a year ago, and up 7.1% from March '08. More »
Quick, spend all those 20% off coupons you've been hoarding: Linen's N Things filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. [NYT]
"People are not willing to modify their lifestyle in order to live on what they earn - that is the real problem." Larry Winget, author of "You're Broke Because You Want To Be" on the root cause of the current economic crisis. [AllFinancialMatters]
deals
Home Depot Closing 15 Stores
The Home Depot is closing 15 stores nationwide. 3 in Wisconsin, 2 in Ohio, 2 in New Jersey, 2 in Indiana and 1 each in Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, North Dakota, New York and Vermont. Those would be places to watch for closeout sales. The specific store numbers and cities, inside: More »
food
Wal-Mart Selling More Peanut Butter And Spaghetti, People Eating Pet Food Not Far Off?
Wal-Mart reports a significant uptick in peanut butter and spaghetti sales. A retail consultant says the last time this happened was in the stagflation 70's, and it represents close to the bottom of consumer food purchase downgrading (the slope goes from red meat to pig meat to chicken to pasta, and then PB&J). "It hasn't gotten to human food mixed with pet food yet, but it is certainly headed in that direction," he says. That sounds both disgusting and sensationalist. How does pet food even taste? Well, according to an NBC intern, "It honestly didn't taste too bad! They had three different types and all were like a thick soup. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't order it at a restaurant, but I've tasted worse. I imagine they'd love it in prison."Recession Diet Just One Way to Tighten Belt [NYT]
ouch
American Airlines Is Losing $3.3 Million A Day
Every day, American Airlines gets up in the morning, looks in the mirror, thinks about the $3.3 million dollars it lost yesterday, brushes its teeth and gets ready to lose another $3.3 million. Fortune says the hemorrhaging began in January, and while red ink is no stranger to the airline industry, they're running out of things to cut. More »
As predicted, the Feds cut interest rates a quarter of a point to 2%. [NYT]
economy
Economy limps ahead at a 0.6 percent pace in first quarter, better pace than expected [AP] (Thanks to Bladefist!)
We're Not In A Recession!
At least by one standard, we're not in a recession: the economy grew .6% in the first quarter. While the numbers are far from awesome, a recession is classically defined as a contraction of GDP, and that didn't happen. However, with gas and food and pizza slice prices rising, it's not to say that we couldn't be heading towards one.Economy limps ahead at a 0.6 percent pace in first quarter, better pace than expected [AP] (Thanks to Bladefist!)
who cares
Bush On The Recession: "The Average Person Doesn't Really Care What We Call It"
Do you care whether or not we're in a recession? If so, do you care what people call whatever it is that we're in? President Bush thinks that you don't. He gave a press conference this morning in which he blasted congress for blocking his economy-fixing legislation, according to CNN:"I repeatedly submitted proposal to help address the problems. Time after time, Congress chose to block them," he said.More »
deregulation
How Much Did Deregulation Contribute To The Recession (Economic Slowdown, Whatever)
Deregulation refers to the point at which the U.S. government threw up its hands and said "all right banks, power companies, airlines, etc., do whatever you want!" and the deregulated industries had a big party. Eminent jurist and economic theorist Richard Posner says that might have been a mistake: "a tighter ceiling should be placed on the risks that banks are permitted to take."More »
ask the consumerists
Mother's Day Threatened By Bad Economy
The poor economic conditions appear poised to impact us right in the heart and derail one of the most sacred spending efforts of the year — Mother's Day. Can financial Armageddon be that far off? But don't fret, the downturn isn't that bad. The National Retail Federation reported, "Consumers facing economic headwinds like higher gas prices will spend less to celebrate Mother's Day this year - an average of $138.63 compared to $139.14 last year." Less than $1 drop on average and total spending is expected to be $15.8 billion, hardly a cause for concern. But stepping back a bit, doesn't $139 seem a bit high? ($15.8 billion sure does.) We're interested in your thoughts. How much do you usually spend on Mother's Day and on what sort of gift(s)?
— FREE MONEY FINANCE
(Photo: Listener42)
travel
JetBlue To Charge $20 For Second Checked Bag
JetBlue announced its first quarter results today and while things aren't as bleak as they are over at United Airlines, the discount carrier said that it was struggling under the weight of its fuel bill and was going to modify its baggage check policy in order to remain competitive with other airlines. More »
toxic toys
Mattel Losing Money As Manufacturing Costs Rise
Mattel is losing money as manufacturing costs in China rise, according to Bloomberg:Sales of Barbie fell 12 percent in the U.S. as the 49-year- old doll faced competition from Hannah Montana and Ganz's Webkinz. Mattel, which recalled more than 21 million Chinese-made products in 2007, expects Chinese manufacturing costs to rise further. The yuan has climbed 10 percent against the dollar over the past 12 months, and inflation in China is near an 11-year high.More »
