Hi, Shrewd!        Login  
Shrewd'm.com 
A merry & shrewd investing community
 Best Of MacroBest OfAll BoardsThe Shrewd’m WeeklyLearn to InvestHow to Become Shrewd
Search
Shrewd'm.com Merry shrewd investors
Search
Best Of MacroBest OfAll BoardsThe Shrewd’m WeeklyLearn to InvestHow to Become Shrewd

The week's question
In December 2024, in the thread "Re: BRK: Why Not XOM?", BreckHutHigh asked the members: "What about the long road trips with kids?" This week it is put to everyone again. The button below opens the small thread re-asking it - read what others have said so far, then give your own answer as an ordinary reply.
Answer this questionContinue to Shrewd'mThis note won't appear again
Personal Finance / Macroeconomic Trends & Risks
Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (8) |
Author: tjscott0   😊 😞
Number: of 4460 
Subject: Re: Can the Wealthy & Well Off Drive the US Econom
Date: 10/25/25 10:51 AM
Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!
No. of Recommendations: 6
finance.yahoo.com - Economy looks better feels inflation
“The only groups that feel good about the economy now are making over $200,000 in the surveys and have large stock portfolios,” Swonk said.

Inflation may be increasing at a slower pace than expected, the markets might be cheering, and the Fed will likely soon be cutting, but Diane Swonk isn’t popping Champagne.

The veteran economist says the economy “looks better than it feels” because the very data used to measure it is eroding, and the illusion of resilience could shatter heading into the fourth quarter.

Swonk pointed out that many of the categories holding inflation steady are either insulated from tariffs or benefiting from temporary waivers: computers, smartphones, and some vehicle imports. Once those fade, “goods prices are still moving up,” she said, with few signs of broad-based disinflation. Core services less shelter—a metric the Fed watches closely—rose about 0.4% in September, Swonk estimated, and remains more than 3% higher than a year ago, “well above anything we saw pre-pandemic.”

That stickiness, she warns, is amplified by a bifurcated consumer base, what some economists have called the “K shaped economy.” Affluent households continue to spend freely on travel, entertainment, and premium goods, keeping service-sector inflation stubborn. Lower- and middle-income consumers, by contrast, are pushing back, trading down, stretching budgets, or delaying purchases altogether.

“Retailers are feeling that divide,” Swonk said, describing a landscape where discount chains are seeing higher-income shoppers while subprime delinquencies creep up among those with thinner financial cushions.

The result is a headline inflation rate that understates the pain for the median household.
Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!
Print the post
Members reply directly to tjscott0 here — and replies get answered. Reading is free; so is joining the conversation. Join Shrewd'm »
This community has written 4,454 posts about Macroeconomic Trends & Risks. The article-length ones it recommended most:
AI Tarpits · 36 recs · 2026
End of an era - profit slowdown · 36 recs · 2023
Control Panel: Trend changes in 2026 · 34 recs · 2026
From the Oregon Bay Area (a blogger) · 33 recs · 2025
Lerner Symmetry Theorem · 32 recs · 2025
Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (8) |


Announcements
Macroeconomic Trends & Risks FAQ
Contact Shrewd'm
Contact the developer of these message boards.

Ticker or Board Name Author

Best Of Macro | Best Of | Favourites & Replies | All Boards | Followed Shrewds | Open Questions | Moving a community