Peter T. Leach, Senior Editor of the Journal of Commerce, believes the cure for what ails the wheezing global economy is confidence among consumers in the United States. Another participant at the U.S. Export Conference, Walter Kemmsies of Moffatt & Nichol, suggested that the US stimulus package will put a “plug in the drain” and help begin a turnaround but added "I don’t see a big rebound in consumer demand." Kemmsies further suggests that the US will buck up economies in Asia and Latin America first, with Europe following along behind.
RBR/TVBR observation: Who has the magic wand that will restore consumer confidence in the US? It basically boils down to security – if most feel their immediate futures are safe, we should mostly be able to resume normal spending patterns, and the recovery will feed on itself globally from there. Some are suggesting that positive news might actually help – and in an environment where almost all the news is negative, the occasional positive story becomes the oddity, hence the most newsworthy. Tonight’s assignment, US media, is to find a positive economic story for your next newscast.
