Click to enlarge.
The chart shows retail sales as a percentage of wage and salary disbursements plus year over year total credit market debt owed growth.
There are two lines because there was a series change. The red line represents the "Retail Sales (Discontinued Series) (RETAIL)" and the blue line represents "Retail and Food Services Sales (RSAFS)".
As seen in the chart, this is not the Great Depression. It is the Great Reset!
The downside of course is that we're still stuck with all this debt. Beggars can't be choosers.
When resources are limited, one must accept even substandard gifts.
I guess that helps explain the high price of oil too.
Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart
Estimates of Monthly Retail and Food Services Sales by Kind of Business: 2011 (xls
ReplyDeleteNon-instututionalized over 16s pay per-capita:
$220/mo general merchandise
$210/mo groceries
$210/mo new cars
$200/mo gas
$170/mo restaurants/bars
$140/mo nonstore retail
$100/mo Home Depot
$95/mo Pharmacies
$80/mo Clothing
$30/mo Auto parts
$30/mo Furniture/accessories
$8/mo computer and software
$100/mo other retail
I pay:
$0/mo general merchandise
$200/mo groceries
$0/mo new cars
$25/mo gas
$50/mo restaurants/bars
$50/mo nonstore retail
$20/mo Home Depot
$0/mo Pharmacies
$0/mo Clothing
$0/mo Auto parts
$0/mo Furniture/accessories
$200/mo computer and software
$?/mo other retail
virtual economy ftw
What this really prompted me is memories of my 20s when I didn't have jack.
ReplyDeleteAfter college, I actually moved all my stuff to Japan on the plane with me. 3 boxes, and that included my Mac IIcx in one box & 13" RGB monitor in another.
Coming back to the US in 2000 my stuff could fit in the back of a pickup.
By 2002 it could fit in the back of a Chevy van.
Now I need a 20' Uhaul, but after 20 years I'm basically done buying stuff.
That's the secret to the nordic, German, and Japanese economies maybe. Less kids = less consumption.
Unlike us.
January 2012 sales, LOL:
ReplyDeleteMen's clothing stores 560
Women's clothing stores 2,466
Shoe stores 1,720
Jewelry stores 1,722
I was going to snark that that's a lot of money for womens wear, but $6B in a month is only $50 per woman, which doesn't seem particularly egregious.
Troy,
ReplyDelete$0/mo Clothing
Holy cow! You're naked! Hahaha!
In all seriousness, I spent $28 on clothes in the last year. Granted, I did have to dip into the "hoard" once. ;)