Foreseechange

Category: Consumer spending

  • Solving the riddle of strong consumer spending

    Another month, another strong retail spending number. The tenacity of the Australian consumer in the face of rising inflation, five interest rate hikes, a precipitous drop in house prices and no real wage growth is becoming something of a riddle. Elizabeth Knight, The Age, September 28, 2022 There is no riddle, but there are several […]

  • The old relationship between consumer spending growth and economic drivers has broken down

    Between the recession of the early 1990’s and the global financial crisis (GFC) in 2008-09 there was a reasonably consistent relationship between Australia’s consumer spending growth and drivers such as interest rates, employment growth, and residential property prices. Since then, the old relationships have broken down.  In addition, there has been the Covid-19 pandemic disruption […]