Does Weak Box Office Reflect Weak Economy? – Ep. 252

Summary: Box office revenues for this holiday weekend were the weakest since 1999.  Why is that? Some say the movies were not very good, but I think it’s more likely that this is just another piece of evidence that supports the fact that the consumer is in much worse shape than is generally perceived.

  • Hopefully everybody had a happy Memorial Day weekend; I spent my holiday weekend up in Vancouver at the International Metal Writers Conference
  • And when I came home, I came back to my home in Connecticut
  • This was the first year I spent the winter in Puerto Rico, from January 1 until just a few days ago
  • I bought a condo in Puerto Rico a few years ago, I moved my Euro Pacific Asset Management Company there from California at about that time, but I’d never moved there myself until this year
  • I like snow, it’s pretty, but the next time I see snow it’s because I’m skiing on it
  • I’m a snowbird now
  • But this time I’m not only flying out of bad weather, I’m flying out of high taxes
  • It’s not just the high taxes in Connecticut; it’s the high taxes in the U.S.
  • By the way, Connecticut is basically broke, if you read a lot of the articles now
  • The tax revenue is collapsing
  • I’m moving from a bankrupt state to a  bankrupt territory
  • Puerto Rico has already declared bankruptcy; Connecticut hasn’t actually done that
  • Connecticut is admitting that they can’t raise taxes on the rich anymore, because the rich are leaving
  • I moved down to Puerto Rico with my wife and two young children, and I love it
  • I live in a nice community, Dorado Beach; great neighborhood, many in the same situation as me
  • I read this article about box office – holiday weekends are usually a good time for Hollywood
  • Memorial weekend is a big weekend to kick off the summer movie season
  • The article I read stated that box office revenues for this holiday weekend were the weakest since 1999
  • Why is that?