Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Booms, Busts, and Recoveries -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mark Adams who wrote (41200)	11/10/2003 12:35:19 PM
From: NOW	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

did not get the sarcasm

To: Mark Adams who wrote (41200)	11/14/2003 12:06:00 AM
From: Mark Adams	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

Another comment on US consumers & Japan Dick is upbeat on the financial health of the consumer. Contrary to widespread belief, consumers in their 40s—often thought to be the economy’s spendthrifts—are actually de-leveraging their personal balance sheets, he says. Instead, the bulk of spending is coming from people in their 20s, as a growing number of 20-somethings are able to buy homes, thanks in part to low mortgage rates. The purchase of a first home, as anyone who’s been through the process knows, triggers a slew of ancillary purchases, as well, on things ranging from furniture to lawn mowers to house-painting services. ... The Japanese have fairly constricted opportunity to spend their money. Part of the blame for that, believe it or not, goes to the country’s topography. Because Japan is so mountainous, something like 75% of the population lives on 2.5% of the country’s land. Thus the average Japanese household lives in 900 square feet of space. Car ownership per capita is among the lowest in the developed world. With small homes and no cars, the Japanese consumer simply doesn’t have the opportunities to spend that Americans do. bankstocks.com