Americans reading the paper, listening to the news every single day, and all you hear is things are getting worse and worse. And that has a psychological effect on consumer confidence. That's what consumer confidence is.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The habits of the American consumer are changing; that's a reality.
I believe that if corporate America expects consumer confidence to be restored, they must first be honest with us.
The consumer is going through a period around the world of uncertainty - whether geopolitical uncertainty, economic uncertainty - and that makes them a little nervous as well.
We're guided by consumer data, and it helps give us the confidence to invest where the consumer is going.
When you focus on the consumer, the consumer responds.
The lesson of 2008 is that ultimately our markets are driven by confidence.
In 2008, when the global financial crisis struck, it was a bad year for a lot of developing countries, and it manifested itself in consumer confidence.
The media is too concentrated, too few people own too much. There's really five companies that control 90 percent of what we read, see and hear. It's not healthy.
The problem with the auto industry is layered upon the lack of consumer confidence. People are not buying cars. I don't care whether they're or American cars, or international cars.
If you think you know the consumer better than anyone, then you're in real trouble. So we take a close watch. You spend time in stores.