According to Senior Political Analyst Michael Barone, the Obama economy is sending Americans to their mattresses.
He puts it this way:
People seem to be following this investment strategy. Step one: Go to Mattress Discounters and buy the biggest mattress you can find. Step two: Take it home and stuff all your money in it. Step three: Lie down and get some rest.
He gives some good reasons for this investment strategy:
Home mortgage interest rates are the lowest in history, but house sales are plunging. Banks can make money easily because of the Federal Reserve’s low interest rates, but they’re not making many loans. Major corporations are sitting on something like $2 trillion in cash, but they’re not investing.
Unemployment is running at 10 percent, rounded off, for the 11th straight month, but few employers are hiring and a million people have stopped looking for work in the last year. Small-business hiring is at a nine-month low and retail sales are tailing off.
Government policies designed to stimulate the economy seem to be having the opposite effect. Consumers aren’t buying, businesses aren’t hiring and those fortunate enough to have some cash on hand don’t seem to be investing.
I call it the mattress economy.
Where I understand people’s distrust of the government, the banks, and the economy, might I suggest a nice safe instead of a mattress filled with money? Something waterproof and fireproof?
