Michael Rapino Quotes

Consumer spending is now plunging at serious-recession rate ... even if the rescue now in train succeeds in unfreezing credit markets, the real economy has immense downward momentum. In addition to financial rescues, we need major stimulus programs.

There's no recovery on Main Street, I can tell you that for sure. And in a re - in an economy like this, we don't need to be raising anybody's taxes.

People stop buying things, and that is how you turn a slowdown into a recession.

Americans are in a cycle of fear which leads to people not wanting to spend and not wanting to make investments, and that leads to more fear. We'll break out of it. It takes time.

The impact of the downturn is starting to feel very real. House prices and the housing market have been taking the knock for some time and that's affecting people.

Even if consumer confidence hit rock bottom, that most likely would not be enough, by itself, to cause a depression.

Economists have predicted seven of the last two recessions.

History has shown that even in a recession, consumers go to shows.

Anytime there's a disruption in the supply chain, any time people cut back on spending, there will be a recession.

The Stock Market was down today. Two major businesses declared bankruptcy, consumer spending is at an all time low - in other words, Bush is back on the job.

The public is even more pessimistic about the economy than even the most bearish economists are.

We don't sit down and go, 'People are uneasy about the economy. Let's write about that.'

Clearly, high energy prices will have a large negative effect on the California economy and could possibly drag the rest of the nation into a recession.

How much would you pay to avoid a second Depression?

We are going through tough economic times but things are looking up, and the indicators are improving not only for large corporations but also for small business.

I think we're going to have some difficulty in front of us. I have absolutely no doubt the next three, four years Europe are going to be at best stagnation. We are preparing for tough times.

If expectations of lifetime earnings drop, then so will spending.

My main expertise is in the past, but if I have to extrapolate into the future, I would say: no good news any time soon and an obvious exit strategy is not apparent to me.

I think that this is the most significant financial crisis in the post-War period for the United States, and it has in fact a global reach.... I think it is extraordinarily important to understand that, as we have seen in many previous examples of different countries and different times, choking up of credit is like taking the lifeblood away from the economy.

As homeowners see the value of their homes decline, they become more likely to delay purchases of the big items - like automobiles, electronics and home appliances - that are ballasts of the American economy. When those purchases decline, large manufacturing firms, suddenly short on funds, could begin laying off employees.

This is the paradox of thrift: belt-tightening causes people to lose their jobs, because other people are not buying what they produce, so their debt burden rises rather than falls.

There is a broad consensus, not only in the United States but in most of the world, that if you are in an economic downturn, you need to stimulate. Germany seems to be an exception.

When the 1929 crash wiped out disposable income, there were not enough consumers to fuel a recovery.

Sometimes, the aftermath is more devastating than the storm. That is the story of the 2008 financial crisis. It was disastrous at the time, but what has been worse is how long it has lingered.

Consumption is still going up on Alibaba. This is because when the economy goes down people look online to Alibaba to buy cheaper things.