Recent statistics published by the Syrian Investment Agency, a state-run firm that oversees investment in Syria's infrastructure, transportation and agriculture sectors, pointed to a decrease in consumer and investor confidence.
"For the cattle industry, it is a self-destructive move, since the more horse meat that's circulating, the greater the chance it will infiltrate the food supply and decrease consumer confidence in beef," he said.
A lack of job creation, consumer confidence and credit have led to a decrease in consumer spending, which in turn impedes long-term economic recovery, he said.
Here at home, we saw several signs that the driver of our economy, the consumer, is also slowing; from weakening same store sales at Wal-Mart, decreased consumer confidence, a fall off in mortgage applications and a pullback in car sales and other durable goods.
The Samsung Economic Research Institute, an economic forecaster loosely affiliated with the Samsung group, Korea's largest conglomerate, reported a slight decrease in a survey of consumer confidence going into the third quarter.
In March, however, consumer spending outperformed dismal forecasts, and grew by 0.4%.In April, consumer confidence soared in Britain and America, while business confidence soured in France.
