The once-unthinkable loss of the AAA rating will constitute a further hit to already fragile business and consumer confidence.
The crisis in Europe has affected the U.S. economy by acting as a drag on our exports, weighing on business and consumer confidence, and pressuring U.S. financial markets and institutions.
The crisis in Europe has affected the US economy by acting as a drag on our exports, weighing on business and consumer confidence and pressuring US financial markets and institutions.
When you ask people, 'What's the opposite of fragile?,' they tend to say robust, resilient, adaptable, solid, strong. That's not it. The opposite of fragile is something that gains from disorder.
Americans reading the paper, listening to the news every single day, and all you hear is things are getting worse and worse. And that has a psychological effect on consumer confidence. That's what consumer confidence is.
Being in the consumer business helps us groom talent in areas like marketing, finance and logistics. We can benchmark our outsourcing business to our consumer business and its best practices.
I am concerned about any attrition in customer traffic at Starbucks, but I don't want to use the economy, commodity prices or consumer confidence as an excuse.
The denigration of business hurts America, because the secret sauce for our economy is confidence. I don't want to hear that nonsense that all business is bad.
We're guided by consumer data, and it helps give us the confidence to invest where the consumer is going.
You don't drive an economy by consuming - the consumer is not the engine, the consumer is the caboose.
A business exists because the consumer is willing to pay you his money. You run a business to satisfy the consumer. That isn't marketing. That goes way beyond marketing.
Consumer confidence in an industry can be a very fragile thing. It only takes a few builders who promise but don't deliver, who cheat rather than perform, who delay until the warranty expires rather than repair, to damage the reputation of an entire industry.
Remarks such as 'great Australian', 'larger than life' are sometimes used where they are not appropriate. But in the case of Kerry Packer both of those descriptions are entirely appropriate. He was a great Australian, he was a larger than life character and in so many ways he left his mark on the Australian community over a very long career in business, particularly in the media and also that other great passion of his, Australian sport
Recent research suggests that New Deal programs may actually have had their primary impact on the economy by influencing consumer and business expectations of future growth and inflation.
America's economy is resilient, and I am confident that Republican pro-growth policies will continue to keep our economy growing - just as it has since after the September 2001 terrorist attacks.
The American consumer, even today, the weight of the American consumer in the global economy is China plus India doubled. So, it's tough to replace that.