Suck in the middle: the hole in America’s consumer base
May 12, 2023
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Tom Lee Devlin, The Economist's global business correspondent; Fiametta Rocco, senior editor and culture correspondent; and Tom Wainwright, tech and media editor, tackle the shifting landscape of American consumer behavior. They discuss how inflation pushes middle-class shoppers toward budget brands while luxury markets remain resilient. The trio also dives into the transformative role of AI in journalism, weighing its potential benefits against job displacement concerns, and reflects on the importance of marginalized narratives through historical lens.
The past few years have proved tumultuous both for American consumers and for retailers selling to them. The end result is a curious slump for middle-of-the-road brands. Artificial intelligence like ChatGPT stands to disrupt everything from art to coding; we self-interestedly explore probable effects on journalism. And remembering Ranajit Guha, a historian who saw a different India by looking bottom-up.
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