Equal Opportunity Recession

Irish consumers will spend €92.5 billion this year, that’s according to the latest Central Bank forecasts. It’s a lot of money – but not as much as last year (€94.4 billion). One curious aspect of Irish consumer spending is how little the relative shares of some sub-categories of spending have changed over the past eighteen years. Accompanying the forecasts is the following table, which shows that the relative shares of goods and services has remained unchanged since 1995 – though some have fallen (e.g.: food), while others have risen (e.g.: transport and communication).

Nevertheless, the Central Bank is expecting an ‘equal opportunity’ recession, with spending in all categories falling in 2009.