EXPERTS ADVISORY

There are, to be sure, disconnects between economic statistics and lived experiences, which seems to have played out in the recent U.S. presidential election.

There are also ongoing questions about the availability of seasonal workers and job insecurity, and technological disruptions to the retail status quo. And hey, we’re not that far removed from a pandemic that wreaked all sorts of havoc on business, the economy and life as usual.

So what to make of it all—or at least some of it?

University of Michigan business experts Scott Rick and Ari Shwayder take a swing on the latest episode of the Business & Society podcast, a joint production of U-M’s Ross School of Business and Michigan News.

Post-election spending

“In the shadow of the election, I would expect a lot of retail therapy, many people curing some questionable feelings through shopping,” Rick said. “And my research suggests that’s not always a bad thing for you personally. You can get out of hand, of course, but it can help sometimes.

“I think some people are feeling kind of overwhelmed with the news and kind of what’s coming in the new year. … I think many people will be turning inward for comfort and personal escape.”

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“We just had sort of the big shopping days and Giving Tuesday and all those sorts of things, and the early data we get shows that things went pretty well,” Shwayder said. “Economists have been looking at this ‘vibecession’ for the last couple of years because we’ve been very confused about it. Some of it is just that economists track different data necessarily than what people are looking at in their everyday lives.

“Also, there’s just a lot of heterogeneity. You know, the average might be great. The top half of the distribution of income or households are feeling fine and doing great, but the bottom half may not be feeling fine and doing great.

“Giving was up this year by a gigantic amount based on early estimates. So it seems like people are willing to open their wallets this year.”

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Business & Society is co-produced by JT Godfrey of the Ross School of Business and Jeff Karoub of Michigan News. The audio engineer is Jonah Brockman and editorial production is provided by Mads Henke. Listen to all episodes of the podcast.