Today is Black Friday. According to Wikipedia "Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, is historically one of the busiest retail shopping days of the year. Many consider it the "official" beginning to the holiday season. ... Most retailers will open very early. "
The above picture shows crazed shoppers fighting in a Walmart story in Orlando, Fl [ a bubble city] . CNN has this story. Minimum credit card payments are about to rise.
Will this be a solid holiday retail season for retailers? Will consumers refinance again to fuel one more materialistic binge? Will fears of a housing bubble, high home heating costs and new bankruptcy laws curtail spending? Will consumers continue to spend more then they earn? How much debt will be raked up on those credit cards?
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"The "black" in the name is a spoof of the term "black Tuesday" of the 1929 stock market crash."
ReplyDeleteThis isn't correct. It is called "black Friday", because it is the start of the retail comanies from operating in the red (or in debt) to being profitable (in the black). Almost all news articles talking about today gave the above as the explanation of why it is called "black Friday".
That is the problem of using Wikipedia as your source...
Thanks for pointing that out.
ReplyDeleteFor now the controversial section as to why it is called 'Black' Friday has been removed.
"I wish the merchants well."
ReplyDeleteI disagree. The consumer binge has caused enough distortion to the US and world economy. The situation is unsustainable. The hangover will be harsh. It needs to end sooner rather later. We need to start working on tradables and technology.
I hope this kind of behavior (fighting at stores) is not typical.
ReplyDeleteI know how it feels in crowded malls. It's annoying.
But we are adults. This continued juvenilization (is that a word?) of the United States is disgusting. What kind of message are these adults sending to their kids? Honey, you should always get what you want, and I will fight to get it for you because you deserve it. Is that a realistic message to send little Johnny out into the world with?
People like that are the types that will get a negative amortization loan to buy a house they can't really afford. These are un-serious people, and I hope they are not typical of my countrymen.
The binge of consumerism is primarily the fault of the consumers. However, other are also to blame:
ReplyDelete1) Feds for lowering short term interest rates for such a long period of time.
2) US Education System for not teaching enough about finances
3) The media for not exposing the binge of consumerism and its long term problems to a suffient degrees
4) Others.
in recession.
ReplyDelete