Random Walk at Night: The Almighty Consumer is different now

We're entering the Donna Summer Phase of the Almighty Consumer

Random Walk at Night does a little mid-dive on the Almighty Consumer. Real resiliency—not the fake kind—starts now.

Editor’s Note: everything reads better in your browser or in the app. The footnotes especially, and Random Walk is really leaning into the footnotes. Plus, if you have the app, you can set delivery to “app only” and then my daily barrage will feel less like a barrage. Unfortunately, substack does not yet have a “Weekly Digest” option, but I’m hectoring them aplenty.

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Random Walk at Night: The Almighty Consumer is different now

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Everyone is a little poorer

The economy has “grown” massively over the past three years, even though Median Incomes (adjusted for inflation) have not:

This is totally normal and sustainable.

Really, let that sink in and puzzle it through. Again, median incomes don’t tell the whole story of financial wellbeing (and these changes are not distributed evenly),¹ but we’re making less than before (and took an extended vacation) and not only is everything fine, it’s been awesome.

Look, everyone is “wealthier:”

All in a day’s work, I guess?²

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Leaving the Pennies from Heaven Phase

No. That makes no sense at all.

The only way it makes sense that ‘everything has been awesome,’ given the last three years, is that we: