Americans’ Ability to Pay for Emergency Expenses or Three-Month Job Loss with Cash/Cash Equivalent, by Selling Assets, by Borrowing, or Not at All by Wolf Richter • May 27, 2023 • 187 Comments 54% have three months of expenses set aside in their account. But 13% can’t pay for a $400 emergency expense.
Despite Getting Whacked by Bank Turmoil, Layoff News, Credit Crunch, High Interest Rates, and Inflation, our Drunken Sailors Spent Even More, Even Adjusted for Inflation by Wolf Richter • May 26, 2023 • 241 Comments Where does the money come from? They now out-earn inflation and dipped into their assets whose prices ballooned over the years.
I’m Surprised How Well Retail Sales Held Up despite Price Drops of Many Goods as Spending & Inflation Shifted to Services by Wolf Richter • May 16, 2023 • 81 Comments Dropping prices cause dollar-sales to drop even if unit sales rise. Home Depot today blamed part of its revenue decline on lower prices.
Household Debt as % of Disposable Income Fell to Good-Times Lows, on Much Higher Incomes Despite the OMG Headlines by Wolf Richter • May 16, 2023 • 104 Comments New delinquencies way below the pre-pandemic lows. Bankruptcies at record lows. The OMG stuff in the media about household debt is funny.
Households Far from “Tapped Out”: Credit Card Balances, Burden, Available Credit, Delinquencies & Collections by Wolf Richter • May 15, 2023 • 130 Comments Credit cards are a huge payment method but not a big borrowing method.
Consumers, Governments Spent like Drunken Sailors in Q1. Private Investment Plunge & Inventory Change Dogged GDP by Wolf Richter • Apr 27, 2023 • 71 Comments Americans came out of their funk they’d been in late last year. They’re 70% of GDP. They blew money left and right; spending on durable goods spiked!
Amex Customers – Above-Average-Income Consumers – Are Spending like Drunken Sailors, incl. on Travel & Restaurants by Wolf Richter • Apr 21, 2023 • 153 Comments They’re the Big Spenders, they move the needle. Millennials and Gen Z-ers are now the drivers of this growth.
But What If We Don’t Get a Recession in 2023? That Would Be a Bummer for Wall Street by Wolf Richter • Apr 19, 2023 • 229 Comments Just a slower-growth muddle-through economy that adjusts to higher rates and sticky inflation.
New Vehicle Sales in Q1 Jump 11.7%. Inventories Build, But Still Less than Half of 2019. Pent-up Demand at 6 Million Vehicles by Wolf Richter • Apr 5, 2023 • 132 Comments Going to be tough for a recession to gain momentum with this kind of demand-overhang going into it.
Consumers Got Whacked by Inflation, High Interest Rates, Layoff News, Asset Prices Falling from Lofty Peaks… And They’re Still Not Slowing Down by Wolf Richter • Mar 31, 2023 • 247 Comments The banking turmoil is seen as next test for consumers. Would be a hoot if they just go ahead and blow that off too.
