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At least consumers are spending some of their increasing paper wealth. Consumer spending climbed 0.4 percent in December, more than economists had forecast in light of a mixed bag of holiday shopping results.
Companies, on the other hand, are still clinging pretty tightly to the drawstrings of their moneybags. True, every so often we see a blockbuster merger or acquisition announced, like the proposed $45 billion deal between Comcast and Time Warner Cable or Facebook’s $19 billion acquisition of tiny WhatsApp. But these are the exception, rather than the rule.
At least consumers are spending some of their increasing paper wealth. Consumer spending climbed 0.4 percent in December, more than economists had forecast in light of a mixed bag of holiday shopping results.
Companies, on the other hand, are still clinging pretty tightly to the drawstrings of their moneybags. True, every so often we see a blockbuster merger or acquisition announced, like the proposed $45 billion deal between Comcast and Time Warner Cable or Facebook’s $19 billion acquisition of tiny WhatsApp. But these are the exception, rather than the rule.
- See more at: http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2014/02/28/Why-Are-Companies-Just-Sitting-Mountains-Cash#sthash.KunLPbqq.dpuf