Consumers Are Letting the Good Times Roll Again
Spending hasn’t hit trends like this since before Lehman imploded. And that will shake up the Fed’s inflation/rates calculations about a ‘no landing.’
Not a seat in the house in late 2007.
Photographer: Jeremy Sparig/Bloomberg
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Another day, another item of evidence that the US economy isn’t slowing down anything like as much as many had thought. US retail sales in January rose the most in almost two years, reinforcing the narrative that consumer demand remains strong. This is despite fears from Wall Street pundits that cash in the system is waning as money doled out for the two-year pandemic stimulus dries up. Consumers’ appetite to keep buying may bolster the Federal Reserve’s resolve to maintain its aggressive monetary tightening campaign.