People say they’re broke, but they’re still buying things
A warning about misreading polls becomes a tale of contradictory behavior.
The story
Consumer confidence is at a 2014 low, but spending increased in August. Polls reflect sentiment, not behavior, and businesses risk misinterpreting them as forecasts.
Source: fortune.com
Our reading
The article notes that people say the economy is bad but keep spending, and that polls shouldn’t be mistaken for predictions. But the real absurdity is that the saving rate fell to 4.1% even as people claimed to be anxious. It’s like saying you’re broke but still buying a new car.
Businesses act on what people say, not what they do, which is like planning a party based on a guest list that hasn’t shown up. The article says polls are snapshots, not forecasts, but the real irony is that people are both anxious and spending, which is like being nervous and still going to the movies.
The article ends by saying polls don’t tell you what customers will do next, but the real takeaway is that people are terrible at predicting their own behavior. They say they’re saving more, but they’re not. It’s the economic equivalent of promising to diet but then eating the whole cake.
