Consumers Are Stupid

Consumers Cheer Up, Wholesale Prices Rise
The University of Michigan's December consumer survey rose to 95.7, its highest since August. Wall Street had forecast the index, a closely-watched measure of consumer sentiment, at 93.5 against 92.8 in November..."

Earlier the government reported that wholesale prices for November climbed unexpectedly in the wake of mounting energy costs, buttressing the Federal Reserve (news - web sites)'s case for higher interest rates to keep inflation at bay.

Our oil producing friends are not coming to the rescue either:

"OPEC agreed Friday to reduce output by one million barrels a day in hopes of staving off further price declines without triggering a new buying frenzy, delegates said."

Best of all the dollar is decline so oil (and other imports) will cost more and new cases of unemployment are surprisingly high! We truly are living in the best of all possible worlds.