Stop blaming the unions for Detroit’s shortcomings, says Lynn Carpenter. Of course, jobs have to be cut in a recession. But this is not the silver bullet for businesses. And every job lost is a consumer lost, which is a big deal in a consumer economy. Lynn says we have no hope of an economic recovery until spiraling unemployment is brought under control.

This from Investor’s Daily Edge:

Consumers drive the American economy. Give them confidence in their jobs and they work hard, create value, make money and exchange it gladly.

Take away their jobs, and it all stops.  The flow even stops when people who still have jobs become worried by the trouble they see around them. And that is exactly what is happening today.

This week, the Institute for Supply Management released numbers that should frighten consumers and freeze the economy even more. The ISM’s monthly index of manufacturing

Retail experts are predicting one of the most dismal holiday shopping seasons in decades this year – a crucial stretch that will set the stage for poor retail sales throughout 2009.

As the U.S. economy decelerates, pummeled by the aftershocks of the worldwide financial crisis, consumers have been hit from every direction: Unemployment has spiked, and will continue to rise, economy unwinds and continues to work through the aftershocks of the global credit crisis, consumers have been beset on all sides. Unemployment is up, home prices are down, and credit is hard to come by.

And although inflation is beginning to moderate somewhat – slowing to a pace of 3.7% year-over-year in October – it’s still well above the U.S. Federal Reserve’s desired target rate of 2.0%.

With rampant inflation no longer artificially propping up consumer spending figures, retail sales have really started to lose their

In the currency market, the dollar slipped further against the euro, falling below the $1.30 mark. Late Tuesday, the euro was trading at $1.3013 vs. $1.2905 on Monday.

Traders reacted with disdain for the Fed’s latest inflationary move, a plan under which it will lend up to $800 billion to support the issuance of debt backed by consumer and small-business debt — such as credit-card loans, student debt, auto loans and loans backed by the Small Business Administration.

“The Bush administration … has now made a colossal announcement aimed at putting a bottom in the asset market,” wrote Kathy Lien, of Global Forex Trading. “For investors that have been concerned about the funding crisis, this is an even bigger reason to sell dollars,” she said, noting it will cause the Fed’s balance sheet to balloon to $3 trillion.

Nor were the day’s hard numbers encouraging, with the Commerce Department saying the U.S.