Friday, September 18, 2009

Economics 18/09/2009: hard numbers for our delusional leaders

Retail sales for July gotta be hard read for our delusional leaders (here).


Per CSO release today: "The volume of retail sales (i.e. excluding price effects) decreased by 15.0% in July 2009 compared to July 2008. There was a monthly increase of 0.2%... partially explained by the increase in new motor sales in July 2008 that coincided with the introduction of the new VRT system." Ex Motor Trades retail sales decreased by 6.2% in July 2009 compared to July 2008 and fell -0.7% in monthly terms. Things are getting worse once again, after a short reprieve of June.

A good summary above (from Ulster Bank economics team). Food, Bars and Other Goods improved in monthly series, everything else is tanking. But all three categories of 'improved' goods are about people staying at home instead of leaving for a vacation, so here we go - have a sandwich and a pint instead of a break - Lenihanomics at work.


Few charts below (back to my favorite hobby):

It is worth noting that, of course, changes in our retail sales = changes in our VAT receipts. This said, can you spot where the 'No New Taxes' Lenihan's statement yesterday can be supported here?

1 comment:

Fungus the Photo! said...

When the captain of a ship becomes unfit to continue then s/he is removed by the second in command. Isn't this evidence of insanity?