I disagree 100%.
I believe things are going to hell in a handbasket...but I'm spending like crazy...because when things go to shit...those things may no longer be available.
Housing is out of sight.
Interest rates aren't worse than they've been in my lifetime...but they're getting there. I think right at the beginning of the Reagan Administration interest rates hit 18%...I was four years old.
But folks didn't carry tens of thousands in credit card debt and hundreds of thousands in auto and mortgage debt.
You think the subprime loan debacle was bad? Wait until the credit card loan crash comes down the pike.
The labor force participation rate is abysmal.
Labor Force Participation Rate
A smart fella isn't equating consumer spending to economic prosperity...a smart fella is equating it to bears stocking up calories for a looong cold winter.