If you ask an economist, they'll tell you economic indicators are everywhere.
Take, for example the lipstick effect, which is the socioeconomic theory that posits beauty splurges go up when markets go down. It makes sense. When things are are bad, why not buy a small lipstick to cheer yourself up?
"If you're sad, add more lipstick and attack," Coco Chanel once famously said.
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Others look to the Costco hot dog, which has stubbornly held steady at $1.50 for years. In a similar vein, giant 23 ounce canned Arizona Iced Teas have been $0.99 since the price was printed on its now-iconic labels in 1996.
It's safe to say that if anyone deigns to change the price of these two items, the U.S. economy might be in for a meltdown the likes of which might rival a 1929 style plummet. Recognizing the chaos that might ensue from such a price change, Costco co-founder Jim Sinegal once even warned incoming CEO Craig Jelenik "If you raise the [price of the] effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out."
For now, the Costco hot dog remains $1.50. But former CEOs in the big box retail space remain panicky about the future of the U.S. economy.
Home Depot's Former CEO Raises the Flag on Bidenomics
Former Home Depot (HD) -) CEO Bob Nardelli told Fox host Neil Cavuto that current economic policies aren't putting America on the path to success.
"I've been at this for 52 years, and I think that I see more uncertainty now than I've ever seen in our country in running corporations across a broad sector of businesses," Nardelli said.
"I was just in L.A. a couple of weeks ago, I paid $6.43 a gallon for gas. So it still has a lot of pressure on us out there. We hear about UPS potentially going on strike and some of the other things that are out there with United and the [United Auto Workers], so I think we have more uncertainty."
Nardelli suggested that, when American businesses struggle, everyday citizens feel the impact.
"Corporate America is struggling," Nardelli said, squarely pointing the finger at President Biden's policies.
"What we see is the level of dissatisfaction and uncertainty with this administration in going forward," he said. "So I think we've got to take this very seriously. I think we have to continue to surface these issues that confront the economy, confront all of us here in the United States."
"I'm a broken record on this," Nardelli said in an earlier appearance on Fox. "But the first day of this administration when they attacked the petroleum industry and...gave away our energy independence I think it's the biggest issue creating inflation when you talk about grain and transportation of the products."
Nardelli also said current attempts to tame inflation are only fanning the flames.
"We were all excited about the jobs report, but over 60,000 of those were government jobs...if you look at it, again, Neil, manufacturing was down 2,000 jobs."
