“You are a lost generation,” remarked Gertrude Stein to the young Ernest Hemingway, referring to the devastating loss of millions of young lives — either dead or incapacitated — as a result of World War I. Today, Stein could be referring to the millennial generation, that cohort of 75 million… Read More →

Good news: The U.S. housing market will continue to thrive regardless of the economy. The homebuilder market has been growing from an amended economy, supporting the housing market and rising confidence. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) discovered that builder confidence for new single-family homes has risen to its highest level since… Read More →

This was supposed to be the year when millennials threw off their chains of dependence and flocked to the housing market. Instead, more millennials now are living with their families than at the height of the Great Recession, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center. It’s not that millennials… Read More →

Marketing researchers call it “the green gap” — the difference between the universe of consumers who say they care about conservation and protecting the environment and the universe of those who act on those values when making purchases. Following the onset of the Great Recession in 2008, the green gap… Read More →

Inconspicuous consumption dominated affluent consumers’ buying habits during the recent recession. In this new era, McMansions, flashy cars and lavish vacation homes were out. Luxury buyers contented themselves with more modest purchases of high-end handbags, jewelry, watches, personal care services and subdued haute couture. As the economic recovery has taken… Read More →