Bad news on the US consumer front. The Michigan consumer confidence index, the most authoritative data on the spending orientation of American families, showed a drastic drop in August, falling from 63,7 points to 54,9. This is the worst result since 1980. Analysts' expectations, which predicted a settlement at the 63-point level, have jumped. Behind the collapse of the parameter - according to the authors of the report - there are mainly three causes: the high unemployment rate, low wages, and the political difficulties related to the agreement on raising the debt ceiling, those that led Standard and Poor's to cut US credit rating to triple A. And it is this third motivation in particular that has struck the analysts. An astonishment voiced by Richard Curtin, director responsible for compiling the index for the University of Michigan. "Never in the history of this report", he commented, "have we had so many interviewees who spontaneously referred to the negative role played by the government".
The index on expectations was also negative, also at an all-time low of 45,7 points, against 56 points in July and against the expected 55,3 points.
