{"id":27322,"date":"2023-12-01T22:15:47","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T21:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/?p=27322"},"modified":"2023-12-14T15:34:35","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T14:34:35","slug":"americans-yolo-spending-baffles-economists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2023\/12\/americans-yolo-spending-baffles-economists\/","title":{"rendered":"Americans’ YOLO Spending Baffles Economists"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

B2 – Upper Intermediate<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid rising interest rates, reduced savings, and persistent inflation, some Americans are still spending unrestrainedly. This year’s Black Friday saw U.S. shoppers spending more money compared to the previous year, showing a trend of increased spending despite tough economic conditions. Thus, economists are on pins and needles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the article to learn more about Americans’ ‘YOLO’ spending sprees and why economists are confounded about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/worklife\/article\/20231130-why-americans-yolo-spending-attitude-baffles-economists<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vocabulary Questions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. What is a “brick-and-mortar store”<\/strong>? “On Black Friday, sales at brick-and-mortar stores<\/strong> were up 1.1% from last year; online alone, US shoppers spent a record $9.8bn (\u00a37.72bn) online alone. Consumers spent another $12.4bn (\u00a39.77bn) on Cyber Monday \u2013 an eye-popping 9.6% increase over last year.”<\/em> Make a sentence with this term.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Define “chug on”<\/strong>. “If 18 months ago, you’d have said the Federal Reserve Bank could raise interest rates by 500 basis points, and the consumer would chug on<\/strong>, relatively unfazed, I would have been extremely surprised.”<\/em> Make a sentence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. What does “square the circle” <\/strong>mean? “Given how much of our life is related to work, how can analysts square that circle<\/strong>?”<\/em> Use this in a sentence.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Discussion Questions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. What drives Americans’ ‘YOLO’ spending spree?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. How do you feel about ‘YOLO’ affecting spending habits amid economic uncertainties?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Have your spending habits shifted towards a ‘YOLO’ mentality, and what factors contributed to this change?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. How do you balance embracing the present (‘YOLO’) with maintaining financial responsibility in today’s economic landscape?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    5. What societal or cultural changes do you think lead individuals to adopt a ‘You Only Live Once’ spending approach?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      B2 – Upper Intermediate Amid rising interest rates, reduced savings, and persistent inflation, some Americans are still spending unrestrainedly. This year’s Black Friday saw U.S. shoppers spending more money compared to the previous year, showing a trend of increased spending despite tough economic conditions. Thus, economists are on pins and needles. Read the article to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[291,39,292,289,293],"class_list":["post-27322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homework","tag-b2-upper-intermediate","tag-finance","tag-first-certificate-fce","tag-reading","tag-text"],"yoast_head":"\nAmericans' YOLO Spending Baffles Economists | phone english blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2023\/12\/americans-yolo-spending-baffles-economists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Americans' YOLO Spending Baffles Economists | phone english blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"B2 – Upper Intermediate Amid rising interest rates, reduced savings, and persistent inflation, some Americans are still spending unrestrainedly. 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