Long-term unemployment is at unprecedented levels for the post-war period. Yet when we stopped in to our local Cheesecake Factory to pick up a slice of low carb cheesecake to go over the weekend, the place was jammed1. How can everyone afford to go out to eat? Probably a lot of diners stopped paying their mortgages, which has freed up money for discretionary purchases. That would be consistent with today’s news that 25.5% of American consumers have weak (< 599) credit scores. The thought occurred to me recently that if you decided not to paying your mortgage, it would probably be six months or more before a sheriff showed up to evict you, but if you refused to pay for your $50 meal at the Cheesecake Factory, you'd be promptly arrested.
Maybe the current economic recovery in the U.S., as tepid as it has been, is akin to the Phony War phase of World War II.
1Back in 2003 or thereabouts, low carb options were popular, as the Atkins Diet enjoyed a renaissance. There were even a couple of dedicated low carb stores in my county. Today, The Cheesecake Factory’s low carb cheesecake is one of the few remaining low carb offerings by a major chain.
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