It's time to push the panic button on the global economy

Matthew Yglesias says It's time to push the panic button on the global economy. "One month's worth of bad data shouldn't necessarily cause a panic, but in light of all the other trends it's alarming. In particular, one would want to see that consumers who are spending less on gasoline and other energy products are pouring at least some of their savings into buying other stuff. Instead, the September report appears to show consumers pulling back across the board — even as demand from abroad is clearly falling apart. Just when it looked like hiring was poised to take off, demand for goods and services is slumping instead. A very troubling sign for an economy that, despite recent good news, is still on the weak side."

538 describes When To Pay Attention To The Stock Market (And When To Ignore It)

I'm not concerned about the stock market this last week, and the Yglesias article seems right to me. We still haven't addressed the real weaknesses in the economy so it's going to continue to putter along. The recent hopeful good news, well now it's pulling back, shocker.