Forget What You Heard/Read, Business Is Good
By George Anderson
Every newspaper and media outlet has reported it so it must be true. The Christmas holiday shopping season was terrible for retailers. Perhaps, it was the worst performance in thirty years.
The facts, however, don’t support the reports, writes Paul Farhi in a Washington Post column. “Consider this fact: Total retail sales in the United States have increased every month, with one exception, for the past 11 years, according to the U.S. Commerce Department’s seasonally adjusted data. That’s 130 months of rising sales (compared to the same month a year earlier) vs. one month of declining sales (October). I’ll give 130-1 odds that December was yet another ‘up’ month.”
Moderator’s Comment: Why do not more retailers and
industry analysts refute the notion that business is down when the numbers suggest
otherwise? [George
Anderson – Moderator]
