To the Point
Consumer Spending and Economic Recovery
Consumer spending is 70 percent of the US economy, so what did Black Friday and Cyber Monday reveal about this year's holiday season? The 90 percent who are still employed are beginning to spend again. If Americans spent their way into the Great Recession, can we spend our way out of it?
By Warren Olney • • 1 min readConsumer spending is 70 percent of the US economy, so what did Black Friday and Cyber Monday reveal about this year's holiday season? The 90 percent who are still employed are beginning to spend again. If Americans spent their way into the Great Recession, can we spend our way out of it? President Obama said today the US needs to get back to what it used to be famous for: inventing, building and exporting goods that say Made in America. Does the US need to become more like China is now, and does China need to be more like America used to be?
Warren Olney
former KCRW broadcaster
Sonya Geis
Senior Managing Editor
Christian Bordal
Managing Producer, Greater LA
Katie Cooper
Producer, 'One year Later'
Kelli Grant
Senior Consumer Reporter, SmartMoney.com
Derek Thompson
Staff writer, The Atlantic
Karen Dynan
Co-Director of the Economic Studies Program, Brookings Institution