Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyboy
But then consumer spending has not even been included in the current figures. So, Osborne's bleating about the weather was a bit of a red herring.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyboy
Well bully for you, however most people in the real world, couldn't afford to buy that new plasma televison set, the new car, fridge, dishwasher or washing machine. They decided to save their money to pay for food and clothing later.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12248301
Quote:
The volume of retail sales was unchanged from the previous year, the Office for National Statistics said.
It is the first time there has been no annual growth in retail sales volume in a December since 1998. But the value of retail sales rose 2%.
"Household goods sales fell by almost 1%, suggesting that the snow stopped consumers bringing forward spending on big-ticket items before the VAT rise," said Vicky Redwood at Capital Economics.
"We would not get too gloomy about any of this," she added. "Anecdotal evidence suggests that consumers flocked to the post-Christmas sales, meaning that spending should rebound in January."
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Sorry to bring facts into the party political broadcast and all that, or point out that in the 'real world' people do actually bring forward spending on items before VAT rises rather than board up their windows and doors and spend all their money hoarding canned food and shotguns before the coalition's brutal (barely sufficient) cuts destroy life as we know it.