This past summer, President Obama warned that Social Security checks might not go out if the debt ceiling was not raised. This statement contributed to a plunge in consumer confidence during July and August.
As we know, the debt ceiling was raised, but confidence continues to fall.
On Tuesday, a Gallup poll reported that “upper income Americans’ economic confidence was badly shaken in August, with 80% saying the economy is ‘getting worse’…” Ed Yardeni reports that this is significant since many of those “upper income Americans” run businesses and that will “certainly have an important influence on labor market opportunities”.