As I’ve gone about my business this week, I’ve been somewhat disturbed by what I saw on Memorial Day when I sat down for the first time in years and watched the CBS Evening News. Most days I’m still at the office when that comes on.
Earlier that day I had seen in the Wall Street Journal that the mood of the country was turning pessimistic. This seemed to jive with the tone of the phone calls I have been getting and with the mood of the people who come in to see me. So I was curious to say the least when CBS presented a piece about how things were getting all better and consumer confidence was on the rise. The scene they presented was Atlantic City, which if I recall correctly is located in New Jersey. Several merchants were interviewed along with a few customers, and they were all upbeat and optimistic. In part this was because of the drop in gasoline prices.
No mention here of how the reason for the gas price drop – again what I see in the Wall Street Journal – is that the world economy is apparently on the edge of some sort of collapse or depression, Exhibit A being Greece.
I noted with interest on Tuesday morning a report from the AP indicating new consumer confidence numbers showing the biggest drop in months. And today I can’t help but notice that the unemployment rate – which had gone down some because of the large number of people giving up on looking for work – just went up this morning.
So what’s the deal with CBS News? I felt a bit insulted to be expected to buy that item about how everybody is confident that things are getting better. I used to love Walter Cronkite. He told us the way it was. Can’t help but feel disappointed with what I saw from his previous employer on Monday.
