It's getting weird out there

Warning signs are flashing, but also not-flashing. I guess we'll always have Idaho

It feels like there’s Ghostbusters energy out there—eerie, uncertain, a calm before the storm. Random Walk leans in hard to 1984 to see what’s scary and what’s not. Plus, shopping tips for life on the post-pandemic frontier. Finally, follow us on twitter for more intermittent highlights.

Things we think

Something weird, and it don’t look good

I’m fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing

On the one hand, consumer spend, especially at the high end, is holding steady—August spend actually increased MoM, after stripping out food and energy:

Travel bookings look strong. Employment levels continue to stay high, and the percentage of “prime age” workers actually working is creeping towards pre-pandemic levels (right-hand plot). Even the 16-19 year olds are getting into the swing of things (left-hand plot):