Christmas Consumption
12/26/2013 | | amount spend Christmas shopping, Christmas Shopping Spending, econ70, Economic forecasting, economics of Christmas shopping, economist on radio, economist on TV, eisenberg and economics, Eisenberg and housing economics, Eisenberg and public speaking, Elliot eisenberg, funniest economist, funny housing economist, Graphsandlaughs, graphsandlaughs and eisenberg, housing sales, MLS, mortgage banking, Multiple listing service, politics and economics, Public speaking economist
Average US Christmas spending in 2013 is expected to be $704 per person 18 years and older. More interesting is the wild variation in this number from year to year. After rising from a trough of $690 in 2003, spending hit a peak of $866 in 2008, but fell sharply to $616 in 2009. This suggests that holiday spending is a good coincident or lagging indicator of economic health.