ITs ALL OUR FAULT!!! MMM, Did you Do THIS??!!

[h2ogal]

Apparently The Word is out!  Americans just aren't Spending!

And what are we doing with all our dough?  Well, were saving it!  (See link to article below)

https://www.fidelity.com/insights/markets-economy/americans-keep-a-tight-rein-on-spending

TLDR:  US Savings Rate is up.  Still a pathetic 5.8%, but enough to scare the retail overlords into giving out some pay raises.  Ha!   

[Valhalla]

Why yes it is all our fault.

We should go and fix that right away.

Time for me to go to the Ferrari dealership and put a deposit down on that new car I've been eyeing.

The rest of you hurry up and go buy some crap you don't need. Do it now before it's too late.

[jmusic]

Many economists were predicting that consumers would spend all that money they were saving from cheaper gas prices as if it were a tax refund check courtesy of OPEC.

I thought this part was funny too.  Even if I drove 15K miles per year in my hatchback, I'd save maybe $60/mo.  Since I drive like 5K per year, I've been saving about $20.  It's still nice that my fillups are often under $25 though!

[Travis]

Many economists were predicting that consumers would spend all that money they were saving from cheaper gas prices as if it were a tax refund check courtesy of OPEC.

I thought this part was funny too.  Even if I drove 15K miles per year in my hatchback, I'd save maybe $60/mo.  Since I drive like 5K per year, I've been saving about $20.  It's still nice that my fillups are often under $25 though!

There was a thread on this subject a couple months ago lampooning several media outlets for portraying this increase in savings due to lower gas prices as a bad thing.

[jmusic]

There was a thread on this subject a couple months ago lampooning several media outlets for portraying this increase in savings due to lower gas prices as a bad thing.

To many people, lower gas prices are VERY bad, because their jobs are tied to them in some way or another.  Then there's the secondary spending aspect, i.e. guy loses his job at Exxon, now he's not buying a car or a Starbucks, etc.

[Eric]

There was a thread on this subject a couple months ago lampooning several media outlets for portraying this increase in savings due to lower gas prices as a bad thing.

To many a small minority of people, lower gas prices are VERY bad, because their jobs are tied to them in some way or another.  Then there's the secondary spending aspect, i.e. guy loses his job at Exxon, now he's not buying a car or a Starbucks, etc.

FTFY

I'm not trying to downplay the real effects of much lower fuel costs on people who work in the industry, but that's a drop in the bucket compared to the number of people who use fuel and now have extra money.  The overall effect on the economy is a big positive.  Well, unless people are just saving it.  Jeez, people!  Get it together!

[Le Poisson]

There was a thread on this subject a couple months ago lampooning several media outlets for portraying this increase in savings due to lower gas prices as a bad thing.

To many a small minority of people, lower gas prices are VERY bad, because their jobs are tied to them in some way or another.  Then there's the secondary spending aspect, i.e. guy loses his job at Exxon, now he's not buying a car or a Starbucks, etc.

FTFY

I'm not trying to downplay the real effects of much lower fuel costs on people who work in the industry, but that's a drop in the bucket compared to the number of people who use fuel and now have extra money.  The overall effect on the economy is a big positive.  Well, unless people are just saving it.  Jeez, people!  Get it together!

Not to mention the impacts on other industry. Think about it - oil is cheaper so manufacturing cost of... lets say pantyhose are cheaper. Yet when we go to WalMart, there is no difference on the price of your control tops. That money is either being saved or spent someplace before the checkout lines. Is it WalMart that's pocketing the savings? Is it the pantyhose factory? Its not the consumer.

So the real amazing thing is that with high volume users of oil (plastics, shipping, metalworking, etc.) saving money in their processes, only a 5% savings has been seen across America. I wonder what that number looks like in places like china where the actual manufacturing takes place.

[Travis]

There was a thread on this subject a couple months ago lampooning several media outlets for portraying this increase in savings due to lower gas prices as a bad thing.

To many people, lower gas prices are VERY bad, because their jobs are tied to them in some way or another.  Then there's the secondary spending aspect, i.e. guy loses his job at Exxon, now he's not buying a car or a Starbucks, etc.

I would imagine the number of people working in the oil industry laid off due to a price drop is a small fraction of those whose business is improved by the lower cost of downstream products and any transportation-related expenses.  Pretty much everyone who commutes or has a business that involves moving physical inventory around benefits from lower oil prices.

[Travis]

Not to mention the impacts on other industry. Think about it - oil is cheaper so manufacturing cost of... lets say pantyhose are cheaper. Yet when we go to WalMart, there is no difference on the price of your control tops. That money is either being saved or spent someplace before the checkout lines. Is it WalMart that's pocketing the savings? Is it the pantyhose factory? Its not the consumer.

So the real amazing thing is that with high volume users of oil (plastics, shipping, metalworking, etc.) saving money in their processes, only a 5% savings has been seen across America. I wonder what that number looks like in places like china where the actual manufacturing takes place.

Stockholders?

[jmusic]

Not to mention the impacts on other industry. Think about it - oil is cheaper so manufacturing cost of... lets say pantyhose are cheaper. Yet when we go to WalMart, there is no difference on the price of your control tops. That money is either being saved or spent someplace before the checkout lines. Is it WalMart that's pocketing the savings? Is it the pantyhose factory? Its not the consumer.

So the real amazing thing is that with high volume users of oil (plastics, shipping, metalworking, etc.) saving money in their processes, only a 5% savings has been seen across America. I wonder what that number looks like in places like china where the actual manufacturing takes place.

Stockholders?

Most producers that have oil as an input employ hedging techniques (futures contracts, etc), so they're probably just now beginning to see the benefits of lower costs.  That said, they'll still keep the difference when they can. 

[h2ogal]

Yes makes sense stockholders are grabbing the profits in reduced mfg costs...
  YiKES that's us too!