Going to the Mall, the Movies (& McDonald’s) With Black Friday (and Cyber Monday) rapidly approaching, much attention is now focused on how robust consumer spending will be. The premise is that holiday shopping reflects consumers’ moods (and pocketbooks) — and therefore is an accurate gauge (if not harbinger) of the economy’s strength. But what if...Read More
If you wanted a good picture of the economy at any given moment, you could track such statistics as monthly unemployment, housing starts, the University of Michigan confidence index, the Consumer and Producer Price indices, etc. Or . . . you could just watch Wal-Mart’s stock price. When the economy slows or contracts — or people fear...Read More
“Steve,” Economic Bellwether Want to know the latest economic and business trends? You could read widely (The NY Times, Wall St. Journal, etc.), conduct lots of surveys, or have keen powers of perception. Or, you could just observe a long-time friend of mine (I’ll call him “Steve” for purposes of this post). A decade ago,...Read More
