I’m seeing a lot more articles about this. When I was young (long time ago!) I, and other like me, would stop spending. Now the opposite seems to apply:
I just wonder what I would have done had I been bombarded with ads. for credit cards and loans
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Inflation is still a problem for many. We hear reports of slowing rates of increase but few reports of prices falling. Many still find expenses rising faster than income. They are squeezed and eating out less. Maybe spending less on travel, vacations, etc.
As long as they continue to work many will continue to spend but if unemployment rises things could change quickly. People are watching numbers carefully. Retail seems sensitive. So far has not spread to manufacturing but could. And tariffs could be part of it all.
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Paul,
The metals market has been in a recession for more than 2 years already.
Total market value is off by roughly 7% since YE 2024 for aluminum products, for example.
As these are internal numbers for market value, I cannot go into more specifics beyond below:
- OTR truck trailers are off more than 40% (either adequate supply, or lengthening service life of trailers underpins)
- Electric car production is off 80% for domestic production (all makes, but significantly Tesla influenced)
- Commerical building starts/refreshes off by 32%
- Distributable stocks (billet/standard shapes) is (-) 5% ← enormous volumes compared to the above items.
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Just gonna throw this in the mix 'cause I know I’m not the only one who’s heard of it.
I (WE) have always been told that after inflation the prices stay. Prices don’t go up and down with inflation. That would be inflation/deflation which would mean a 1929 situation. Any prices changes you see after a bout of inflation is simply the market price adjustments that happen all the time anyway. Ergo we shouldn’t be hearing about “prices going down because inflation is over” as a systemic function. IOW They won’t lower my rent when inflation goes from 9% to 2.5%
If people are still hurting (or feel they are hurting) I suspect it’s because: Wages didn’t match the inflation increases thus maintaining a lesser, but still noticeable, squeeze. I haven’t seen any reliable wage data on this, though so I don’t want to say who has something to cry about. (As if there actually is reliable data on this)
Or possibly, people have more or less caught up, but the “recency effect” is prevailing. All those rapid price increases from a few years back until fairly recently are the mental perception driving people’s actions and not the actual end-of-month kitchen table tally?
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Seems like “doom spending” is another media created buzzword for stupid spending to get a short thrill out of something new.
The media has been working, for about 20 years now, to keep everyone on edge, all the time. First it was hysteria about “the terror threat level”. Then it was “severe weather” every day. Now, the “news” is a constant hysteria parade with everything described as “shocking”, “alarming”, “scary”. No wonder people are nuts.
Steve
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It’s rational to buy something you will need anyway if you think the price will rise later. I almost bought a new dishwasher around Memorial Day because my model is 1987 and Home Depot was having a sale. Appliances will be hit by Trump’s tariffs so it made sense to think about that.
In the end I didn’t buy because my DW still works. But it wouldn’t have been stupid to buy a new one.
Wendy
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Probably not in your situation. But for someone who doesn’t need a dishwasher - purchasing one on high interest credit may be considered stupid.
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Don’t forget. “unprecedented” and “bombshell”
The media and other info sources can do or say whatever they want. I do not understanding why so many people fall for it. How does it get so much traction with enough people to matter?
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“Doom spending” defined:
To that point, 19% of adults indicate they are “doom spending,” or making impulsive purchases driven by fear and anxiety about the future, according to a recent report by CreditCards.com
“Doom spending” is a media created buzzword to mean the same as “shopaholic”. People buying stuff to get an emotional charge.
Steve
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