Revenge spending: Americans spending big money post-pandemic
University of Central Florida's Institute for Economic Forecasting director Sean Snaith calls revenge spending something different.
“Because of the nature of the recession and the public health measures, I’ve been calling it “pent up demand squared” because not only do we have traditional pent up demand but we’ve been pent up literally,” Snaith said.
He said it happens after every recession and the reason is that people are ready to get back to normal and do things they were unable to do.
The spending isn’t necessarily on items, more so activities like traveling, eating out, and going to theme parks, concerts, or sporting events.
“You always want what you don’t have and so we were denied these types of activities and now that they’re becoming available again, people are flocking to them,” Snaith said.
Data from the Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research shows April’s general-revenue collections in Florida came in nearly $800 million above the projection for the month.
The month of March also topped its expectations by hundreds of millions. February and January did the same.
So, where are shoppers getting the money to spend?
Snaith said some who never lost their jobs were able to save. He said others had unemployment payments and stimulus checks.
"So, even those who were hurt by this recession and lost their jobs, I think, had money to spend,” Snaith said.
He said he expects the heavy spending to continue through the rest of the year.