A Matter of Consumer Confidence, but Does It Really Matter?
Consumer confidence: It is one of 11 crystal balls the federal government uses to divine the future of the nation's economy.</br></br>There's just one problem. Many economists say "consumer confidence" is largely a bust as a forecasting tool.</br></br>Some even argue that confidence indices, based on national surveys of public attitudes on personal finances and spending plans, are a better measure of where the economy has been, rather than a reliable predictor of where it is going.</br></br>Still, one of those measures of consumer attitudes produced monthly by the University of Michigan, is enshrined in the bean-counter's hall of fame, namely: as one of the Commerce Department's Index of Leading Economic Indicators.</br></br>Some prominent economists say consumer confidence should not be one of the government's certified indicators of future economic performance.