The Indicator from Planet Money
The Indicator from Planet Money
NPR
Taking the temperature of the US consumer
9 minutes Posted Oct 12, 2023 at 11:10 pm.
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Economic indicators like the Consumer Price Index can tell us a lot about the past, but what about the future? For close to 80 years, policymakers have relied on the Surveys of Consumers to give them an idea of what the economy might do next. Today on the show, we go behind the curtain at the University of Michigan to meet the people in charge of checking the vibes of the U.S. consumer.

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