Even through natural and economic disasters, terrorism and even war our spending trends have not changed. Consider the following events we have witnessed in the last 20 years:

• 1987 – Black Monday, stock market plunges over 20% in one day
• 1990 – First gulf war
• 1990-91– Recession
• 1997 –Asian currency meltdown
• 1998 - Long Term Capital Management hedge funds blew up, ensuing credit crunch
• 1999 - 2000 – Tech Bubble and bust
• 2001 – 9/11
• 2002 - War in Afghanistan
• 2003 – Iraq War
• 2005 – Hurricane Katrina
• 2005 – Oil Rose to $75 a barrel
• 2007 – Sub Prime Meltdown, oil over $90 a barrel

How do we go through these incredible obstacles and yet spend more? These disasters and threats are not what we base our spending decisions on.

The age and stage of life determine spending patterns. As we move through predictable stages of life, which correspond with different ages, we change our spending in very predictable ways. What we buy at each stage is predictable and consistent. This information can be used to forecast how spending will change in the years and decades to come.

Class 2: Who Spends What in the Economy and its Demographic Impact