Earn What You Spend

From the WSJ: 
As part of a sweeping bill to change the rules for credit cards, a pair of senators are pushing to lift constraints that Visa, MasterCard and other credit card networks impose on merchants’ ability to offer discounts for paying by cash or check.
Retailers have long chafed under the restrictions, which make it burdensome [...]

Consumers have been curtailing their spending for months now - we’re now deep into this recession, and virtually everyone is trying to save cash.  The savings rate has rebounded from it’s near-negative numbers.  And now, consumer debt - the money individuals borrow through car loans and credit cards - is falling in tandem.

Source: WSJ
Some of [...]

Unsurprisingly, December sales in most retail stores were quite soft - and this time the impact didn’t spare discount retailers such as Wal-Mart, who have been rising above the competition because of their low prices:
Following the worst set of data in decades for November, sales were expected to be nearly as bad for December, thanks [...]

There are those that argue that the growth in consumer debt - especially credit cards - is primarily due to the wealthy.  Even if that may be the case, it does not mean the wealthy have the means to pay off this debt - the fact remains that consumers are overleveraged.  I previously made the [...]