CEO vibes as misleading as consumer angst

IN THE PAST three years, many of us have wrestled with the ebbs and flows of the consumer “vibecession”.

- JONATHAN LEVIN

Even as survey data hinted at widespread economic unease, the hard economic numbers—consumer spending and gross domestic product, in particular—generally portrayed resilience. Less discussed is the lacklustre sentiment coming from the c-suite, which has grown more and more puzzling as earnings growth has broadened. But here too, there are signs that the vibes might not be quite as ominous as they seem on the surface.

Coined by author and content creator Kyla Scanlon, vibecession acknowledges the gloom that’s descended on folks who, in a brief six years, have had to grapple with a global pandemic; surging inflation; a breakneck rate hiking cycle; an artificial intelligence revolution; and the upending of the global trade system through once-in-a-century tariffs. And all this processed through an evolving media ecosystem that rewards the loudest, most bombastic voices, with little regard for the facts. It also nods to how hollow these vibes can be, and how apt to mislead economists, analysts, and investors.