Recession Anyone?

As if you needed someone to tell you that it's getting rough out there, here it is from Bloomberg:

Retail sales in the U.S. unexpectedly fell in February, indicating that declines in payrolls and home values and a surge in energy costs have pushed the economy into a recession.

But wait, here's some actually evidence of "trickle down" economics.

The government's retail sales report also showed how the housing slump is filtering through the economy. Purchases of furniture, electronics and building materials all dropped. The rising price of gasoline, which yesterday reached a record $3.27 a gallon for unleaded regular, is prompting Americans to cut back. Purchases at restaurants and bars fell 0.4 percent in February, the most since January 2007.Consumers are even spending less on gasoline. Receipts at filling stations fell 1 percent last month, the most since August.

Man. This has been coming for a while. Y'all know we're always the canary in the coal mine, so the national heads up came back in October when a report came out stating that:

Growing numbers of blacks say they’re worse off than five years ago and don’t expect their lives to improve, a study released Tuesday shows. In addition, fewer than half of all blacks, or 44 percent, said they expected their prospects to brighten in the future.

Now, to be fair, that report was about the overall state of the Black condition in America, economics included, but y'all know what I'm saying. It seems like everybody is having, shall we say, financial difficulties as of late. And while I don't have any statistical data, it sure looks to me like there are a hell of a lot more homeless people on the streets lately. You'd have to be blind not to notice that. But I guess the real question is: What are you doing with your tax rebate check that's not going to solve the country's economic trouble at all, but instead put us further into debt (and by extension, deeper into recession)? Spend it, save it, or pay a bill? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Additional reading:

http://therealready.blogspot.com/2007/10/aint-nothing-free.html
http://therealready.blogspot.com/2007/10/mo-about-money.html
http://therealready.blogspot.com/2007/10/bling-bling.html