January Retail Sales: The "Real" Consumer Economy Remains in Depression

Consider: During the past 21 years, the U.S. population has grown by over 22% while the dollar has lost about 37% of its purchasing power to inflation. When we adjust accordingly, the rebound in retail sales from the bottom in April 2009 merely gets us back to the per capita spending during the late summer of 1999.

Great analysis... someone finally puts inflation and population growth together with retail sales statistics to get the real story.