Lipstick Lessons Have you heard of the “lipstick index” before? You read that right, beauty sales are their own economic indicator. The term was popularized by Estée Lauder (EL) heir Leonard Lauder, to highlight the unusual inverse connection between the economy and beauty sales: When the economy slows, sales of little luxuries accelerate, as consumers…Read more
Inflection Point? A nation’s housing market is often seen as a barometer for the state of its economy. Here’s what we can learn about the current state of the U.S. housing market. Hot trends point at a hot economy, while weak trends indicate a weak economy. This is because the housing market also involves several…Read more
Automation Is Here More than half of U.S. companies are planning to use AI to automate work that has traditionally been done by humans over the next year, according to a survey of Chief Financial Officers conducted by Duke University and the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Richmond. Three out of five of the…Read more
