Encouraging signs, like improved housing markets and consumption, appear offset by stagnant labor markets and signs of structural unemployment.
FORBES: Beige Book: Fed Reports Fiscal Cliff Hit Holiday Season, Retailers Suffered
These two factors have led to a fall in consumption that has not been offset by exports.
Negative drivers were negative contributions from private inventory investment, federal government spending and exports, partially offset by personal consumption expenditures, nonresidential fixed investment and residential fixed investment.
The savings in medical costs would offset the higher gas consumption.
Growing consumption for jewelry in India and China offset softer demand in Western nations.
FORBES: Silver Institute: Silver Investment Rises In 2012 But Fabrication Dips
The use of ethanol has offset a small amount of oil consumption, but it has also contributed to sharp increases in food prices that have led to hunger demonstrations, and in some cases, riots, from Haiti to Egypt.
Some of his restaurants "use a percentage of green power to help offset some of our non-renewable energy consumption, and we are looking to do more in the future, " Batali spokeswoman Elizabeth Meltz wrote in an email.
Adelman believes that no matter how far domestic consumption drops, the industry's pricing power will more than offset it.
The fact that those paying higher taxes will reduce their savings somewhat does not fully offset this effect as some of their higher taxes would come out of consumption.
To replace the loss of revenues, Huckabee advocates a consumption tax on goods and services that includes a monthly "prebate, " designed to offset taxes on necessities.
In an attempt to offset the decline in foreign sales, India has been trying to boost its domestic consumption to sustain growth.
For one thing, if governments try to force people to save more than they want, the savers may try to offset this either by reducing non-mandatory saving or by borrowing to maintain their current consumption.
应用推荐