It would be nice if the media didn’t feel the need to rely almost exclusively on economists who are continually surprised by the economy. The Commerce Department’s release of May data on retail spending surprised many economists by its weakness as noted by both the Post and the Times.

Economists who know economics were not surprised. Prior to the recession consumer spending was propelled by the $8 trillion in housing wealth created the bubble. This is the well-known housing wealth effect that economists were supposed to learn in their under-graduate training: annual consumption increases by 5-7 cents for every dollar of housing wealth. The bubble sent consumption soaring and pushed saving rates to record lows.

Now that most of the bubble wealth has disappeared, consumption is returning to more normal levels. Even now the savings rate , at around 4.0 percent, is well below its levels before the stock and housing bubbles, which averaged more than 8.0 percent. In fact, with most of the huge baby boom cohort in its 50s, with very little wealth accumulated for retirement, the demographics should be heavily tilted towards saving. This is why the small subgroup of economists who know economics are asking why consumption is so high, rather than so low.

Reporters should recognize that the economics profession doesn’t have the same sort of internal controls as other occupations, like custodians or retail clerks, Therefore many economists are not good sources for information about the economy.