Borrowed Plumes

People are worried about their jobs and the economy. People are also taking their holiday spending to new heights. What in Klarnation is going on? Bloomberg (Gift Article): The United States of Klarna.”So far, the topline numbers suggest spending is up significantly from 2024 and the volume of people out there shopping is also at an all-time high … If so many Americans worry they may be laid off or their 401(k) might get vaporized by artificial intelligence companies lobbing the same $100 billion back and forth like a hot potato, why are they still splashing out on holiday decorations and gifts? There probably isn’t a single completely satisfying answer, but if you want to understand the state of the American consumer, the best place to look might be at the performance of ‘buy now, pay later’ lending services, whose customers are a growing cohort of Americans—more than 91 million of them.”