In Washington
WHERE'S good cheer to be found this season? There's no respite in bad tidings - the economy is expected to get worse before it gets better, unemployment will scale new highs, stocks are at unimaginable lows and property market continues to stagnate. Even the weather's been lousy, with a cold snap causing misery in large parts of the country.
Retail therapy, anyone? Not really. This Christmas period has seen the lowest sales in 40 years, say retailers who unfortunately depend on holiday shopping for as much as a third of their annual sales. Consumers are keeping away despite discounts as deep as 80 per cent. Amazon and WalMart look like the only ones who have been hearing cash registers ring.
Grimacing at their prospects, the retailers are trying to move Congress to approve three 10-day periods of tax-free shopping in the new year in an effort to encourage consumer spending. Whether these will entice the deeply-indebed consumers on enforced belt-tighening regimen remains to be seen. But analysts note that personal bankruptcy filings are up too, rising to 131,672 in November, up 37 per cent from a year earlier.
In this gloomy scenario, there has been one bright spot for the consumer - relief from the high petrol prices experienced this year. Right now, a gallon of gas (the unit used in the US) is below US$2 - this is the lowest price in 5 years and a drop of over 60 per cent form the high of over US$4 in July.
One analyst estimated that the price decline was equivalent to a tax cut of up to US$300 billion.
The consumers are not inert to this 'stimulus', the vow to drive less and take the train more has fast come undone. Hybrid vehicles are beginning to seem like a summer fad. Fuel-guzzling trucks and SUVs, which are available for heavy discounts, will outsell cars in December - that hasn't happened since February. The sales of hybrid vehicles - for cars like Toyota Prius and Honda Civic had weeks of waiting period and a premium just a few months ago - are headed south.
Not too surprisingly, conservationists are frowning. Good cheer is in limited supply this season.