So what did this deeply depressed consumer do? She went out spent like there was no tomorrow.

197

The Japanese economy for the first time in 15 years is getting up off the mat. They've gotten their banking system back in shape. Europe will probably muddle along, but China's growth will still be quite strong.

137

Christmas just isn't as important anymore. Americans, especially baby boomers, have started realizing that they don't need more stuff.

135

Continued job and real wage growth is needed to increase a household's pool of cash and to strengthen discount retailers' sales, ... An improved labor market would make consumer spending more self-reinforcing and less dependent on tax and interest rate-related stimulus.

132

In Europe, bankruptcy laws are designed to protect creditors. We're a nation founded by debtors, people who were trying to get away from debtors' prison.

127

The process is slow in happening. The level at which the consumer starts making changes is pretty inelastic, In other words, it takes a high threshold of pain before they start making changes.

121

It has literally turned your house into an A.T.M. in the last couple of years. That will virtually go away.

100

At the end of a long economic expansion, consumers tend to be overconfident relative to their spending; raising false hopes about the ability of consumers to continue spending. At the beginning of a recovery, consumers remain in a funk even as they accelerate their pace of spending.

79