Today's Dose of Propaganda

November 27, 2010
Higher gas prices won't slow most holiday shoppers

What's a few extra bucks? Higher gas prices won't hurt holiday spending much, shoppers say

I bet you are wondering how many shoppers offered an opinion. The answer appears to be two. Here's a summary of the results.



Here's anecdotal evidence that supports the claim.

Cassie Peterson, 25, a health coordinator from St. Paul, said higher prices won't change what she buys for her nieces...

Here's anecdotal evidence that weakens the claim.

In Hartford, Conn., Michael Hardaway, 54, paid $3.10 a gallon for gas for his Chevy Silverado. He said he will reduce his spending on Christmas gifts...

Here's additional anecdotal evidence that doesn't even mention holiday shopping. I therefore had to throw it out of my analysis. It is a useless data point.

"It stinks," said stockbroker Jack Landers, 64, as he paid $3.11 at a service station...

Let's follow the logic here.

1. Higher gas prices will definitely not slow one person's shopping.
2. Higher gas prices will definitely slow another person's shopping.
3. Therefore, "Higher gas prices won't slow most holiday shoppers."

It's hard to fault the analysis (other than the fact that a sample size of two is rather small and error prone). Half is certainly not most. This is fantastic news of course. Higher gas prices won't slow "most" holiday shoppers.

Since this is an Illusion of Prosperity blog I figure I can use that very same anecdotal evidence to offer up some doom and gloom. Brace for it. You might consider sitting down first if you are prone to fainting and/or you work in the retail trade industries.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that higher gas prices slow 50% of holiday shoppers!