Book Printing Outlook -- Consumer Confidence Key

ONE OF the characteristics of a difficult economy is the slowdown of consumer confidence, which has a trickle-up effect on the goods and services sector. Less spending equals lower demand, equals lesser manufacturing output. The schizophrenic bounces of the oil market in 2008 is perhaps an extreme example. Restoring consumer confidence will lift all of the boats that have run ashore due to the economic concerns that network one another. There is precedent hope surrounding the election of a new U.S. president, someone who can not only rinse away the bad taste of 2008, but also breathe new life into the American psyche.