We all know the common economic indicators: payrolls, GDP, retail sales..the list goes on and on. But perhaps the most ‘real’ way of judging how an economy is performing, is based on amount of withdrawals fro ATM machines. This way you can get a ground level look at the economy is functioning.

According to Ynet: “In December 2008, an 18% drop was noted in the public’s cash withdrawal from automated teller machines, compared to December 2007. The average sum of money withdrawn in December was NIS 500 ($120), compared to NIS 600 ($145) last year and NIS 550 ($133) in July and August of 2008. The total value of checks used in payments in 2008 also declined, and amounted to some NIS 80 billion (about $19 billion) down from NIS 88 billion ($21 billion) in 2007. A particularly sharp drop of about 23% was noted in November and December. An 18% rise in the number of dishonored checks was noted in November and December of 2008 compared to the same period last year. An average 183,000 checks were bounced each month compared to an average of 155,000 each month for the same period in 2007.”

The numbers are not pretty, and point to an Israeli economy in much worse shape than the data indicates.

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