Money Anxiety Index resilient as consumers increased their spending in Q3
American consumers are feeling confident in their finances according to the Money Anxiety Index.
The index recorded a decline of 2.6 points quarter-over-quarter in the third quarter of 2019. The index measures actual financial behavior and shows that in the same period consumer spending increased 2.9%.
Some other measures of financial confidence have shown signs of stress but Dr. Dan Geller behavioral economist and the creator of the Money Anxiety Index says that the spending increase confirms increased sentiment.
"It is an economic impossibility that consumers with lower financial confidence will increase their spending" he said. "For the sake of accuracy, it's time that the business community and the media start referring to hard-data indices, such as the Money Anxiety Index, for financial confidence."
The index went as high as 100.4 in the aftermath of the Great Recession, and has declined gradually to 43.6 in August of this year. Historically, the Money Anxiety Index fluctuated from a high of 135.3 during the recession of the early 1980s, to a low of 38.7 in the mid-1960s.
