A Retail Drop Gets Lost in the Spin Cycle

Was it the snowstorm? Or a more serious drop in consumer confidence? It isn’t surprising that different people wanted to spin the decline in March retail sales in different ways; what was curious was who picked which way. Republicans, who might normally ascribe the 1% decline, the steepest in two years, to Clintonite economic malaise, swore it was a temporary glitch in a continuing recovery, caused by the March blizzard that kept East Coast consumers from shopping. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, who would be expected to agree with the anomalous act-of-God explanation, instead declared gravely that “recovery is at risk.” The reason for the role reversal, of course, was the economic stimulus package — i.e., jobs and infrastructure spending — that Clinton is trying to ram through Congress. The worse the economy looks, the stronger the case for Clinton’s $16 billion energizer.

Still, the President, unable to break the ongoing Republican filibuster against his package, appears ready to cut a deal with minority leader Bob Dole to reduce the size of the proposed stimulus. But at week’s end they were still haggling, and the bad retail-sales news was a useful tool for the Democrats to nudge public opinion in their direction.