Aggregate income estimates suggest a collision where income growth has stalled in the wake of the 2015-16 downturn but spending hasn’t been dampened by nearly as much. The result has been the several years now of languishing auto sales (and production) as well as the parallel decline in the Personal Savings Rate. In other words, where gasoline prices might trigger a negative reaction in further spending could be at a lower point. Consumers just don’t have that much room or discretion.
