Was It Obamacare Fears?

I have tried to move most financial advice to my site at Financial Acceleration, but today brings news that really needs to be posted both on that site and here.  Retail sales for the Thanksgiving weekend fell by 2.7% according to figures released this morning.  This is the first decline year over year since the crash in 2008.  Also, since there is one less week this year than last, there are more sales that need to be squeezed into a shorter period.  As a result, sales should have risen substantially for the weekend just to keep overall sales for the season level.

So what is the reason why retail sales are falling in this way?  The most likely reason is the increased level of fear about healthcare costs coupled with the knowledge of many consumers that their costs will rise substantially.  The percentage of folks who know for a fact that their costs will rise is probably no more than 15%, but for the other folks who are awaiting news about their own premiums, deductibles and the like, the known cost increases for others instills caution when it comes to spending.

This is really terrible news for the economy.  Keep in mind that just about 70% of America's GDP comes from consumer spending, and you can easily see why a surprise decline in that spending would have such a major negative impact.