Word: auto
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...bumped up its CAFE standards (currently 27.5 mpg for cars and 20.7 mpg for SUVs and minivans) since 1984, long before the gas-guzzling soccer-mom-mobiles completely took over our nation's highways and byways. It's generally seen as a not-too-onerous way of prodding the auto industry to help conserve gasoline without resorting to that economically preferable but politically suicidal alternative...
...gasoline used by 5 billion gallons over the next six years; Democrats called it "a lost opportunity" to do a whole lot more. But Tauzin, from oil-rich Louisiana, is one of Bush's staunchest fellow believers in production, production, production, and Dingell, well, he's from Detroit. Auto town...
...They've done it so far. Consumers and their spending (led recently by auto sales) have remained surprisingly upbeat throughout this slowdown, and so far it looks like the almighty American shopper will be successful in keeping the U.S. out of a recession. But economists are starting to worry about "the consumer collapse," in which unemployment finally gets too scary for Americans to go on like they have and not tighten their belts just a little...
Since Hyundai broke into the U.S. auto market in 1986, the jokes have rolled off comics' tongues as fast as the company's unwanted cars have piled up in showrooms. How about Jay Leno's line--that the only consumers who benefit from high gasoline prices are Hyundai owners because every time they fill up, the car's value doubles. The tinny, troublesome autos had so many problems that dealers made repairs a profit center. Their unadvertised slogan: Hope You Understand Nothing's Drivable and Inexpensive. The notion that Korea was another Japan ready to challenge U.S. competitiveness evaporated...
...Then the Commerce Department reported that retail sales continued to squeak up, rising 0.2 percent in June after May's upwardly revised 0.4 percent hike. That was a soft number, but look at what kept the overall number in positive territory - auto sales. Those about to tighten their belts do not buy new cars. And the University of Michigan's respected consumer sentiment index rose to 93.7 percent in July, according to a Reuters report, compared with a reading of 92.6 percent in June...