We saw this sign above while driving through Kentucky. I didn't stop to take a photo, but I did find a copy online, as well as articles about it. Are people turning away from Trump? Or as his term winds down, maybe there is less demand for Trump merch. I also noted a lack of Trump yard signs and flags, in Kentucky, Tennesee, Georgia, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Pennsylvania.
In Leheighton, PA, there used to be a big Trump billboard in front of this guy's house, right as you crossed the bridge, at the stoplight. It was there for years - since before Trump's first term. Today? No more - replaced with a small sign promoting the county fair. You just don't see Trump signs anymore - no flags flying from pickup trucks, no red hats, either. The landfills must be full of the stuff!
Then again, the quality of Trump merch was so poor that the few Trump flags and signs you see are faded and tattered. Maybe it all just composted like so much other bullshit.
But there are other, less hopeful signs out there, and I am not sure whether I am imagining them or not. Every merchant I have ever done business with, seems to be SPAMming me with discount offers - coming across as nervous and desperate. Campgrounds once full to capacity on holiday weekends are offering last-minute discounts to fill empty spaces. And car dealer lots are overflowing with row upon row of unsold pickup trucks and SUVs.
Woody Folsom, in Western Georgia, has Ford, GMC, Ram, Dodge, and Jeep dealerships (and ag equipment and who knows what else?). All are full of big, gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs - a far cry from the COVID days, when he had only four or five of each, on each lot. Meanwhile, Ford exhorts me to buy a new $100,000 "Super duty" pickup, which is just not happening.
Did someone throw a switch? What happened? Before, the dealers acted like they were doing you a favor by selling you a truck. Now, they advertise over $10,000 off on a new SUV. Are people finally running out of money - and credit?
McDonald's replaced its CEO after disappointing revenue and earnings. People are buying convenience foods less and less. One wag argues online that the hamburger patties at Mickey-D's are thinner than the pickles. Are they resorting to shrinkflation?
Maybe. There seem to be signs. Despite the rapid rise in housing prices, I hear from multiple people in my recent travels that sales are cooling off and in some markets, getting difficult. Rising interest rates are obviously not helping. But are there other factors?
Data from the government, once the standard of financial reporting, is now being tweaked to fit political narratives and is no longer trustworthy. And it isn't just finances - our Secretary of HHS is under-reporting measles deaths, apparently on a regular basis. And let's not forget the war dead - even if the administration would like to.
So it is hard to tell from "official" channels whether the economy is going like gangbusters or about to crater. I see signs, but I am not sure whether they mean anything.
Yet.
