Those who have spent years studying to become economists would have us believe that this is a science. They crunch numbers and come up with wonderful plans they believe will save the world from its current or next crisis. Unfortunately, science always fails when it comes to trying to understand human behavior. The psychology of large numbers of individuals is difficult to model. Who knows why people spend like there's no tomorrow once minute and stop spending the next. Some will be bankers with several million in bonuses, another group will be in work with a range of pay, and then comes an average of about 9% unemployed. The fact that there are one or two percent changes in the rate of unemployment should not affect consumer confidence. Yet, over the last two years, we have seen banks go bust, waves of foreclosures ripple across America like a tsunami and people suddenly decide they need to be as frugal as their Protestant forebears fresh off the Mayflower.
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