Truth be told
Consumer confidence jumped in May, the most in six years, causing some to think economic revival is just around the corner.
The hope is that consumers, who account for 70 percent of the economy, will finally begin to spend. And while unemployment, real estate values and dampened credit remain a focus in a number of markets, pent-up demand continues to grow with each passing day. This looming “pop” is expected to be immediate and sharp, as retailers have kept inventories meager. As such, any sudden demand would vibrate immediately through the economy.
Right on target, according to multifamily guru and chairman of Equity Group Investments, Sam Zell, who last year said we'd clear this “malaise” by Q4 2009. There's now broad consensus on the matter.
Nearly 90 percent of economists are on board for a year-end recovery.
This is not news, though it does make an odd dynamic, as large numbers of people lie in wait, holding their wallets, foregoing vacations and driving old cars. Why they wait, I'm not sure. Maybe for Congress to stop spending so we can have our turn. (Nervous levity.) There is a striking contrast to our government's fiscal and moral intervention in so many private companies, and that of their military housing
