Are we in the middle of boom or bust?

With cries of doom and gloom coming from the retail sector and cries of joy from the miners, who are we to believe?

Are we in the middle of boom or bust?

Is the Reserve Bank right not to raise interest rates just yet? Is unemployment a worry at 4.9%?

Are people economising on their appearance? It seems the young are not. They are out there still wanting Botox and increasingly non surgical fat reduction. Perhaps the older generation having been through tough times before are tightening their spending? No, again. Older patients are investing in their appearance, perhaps as a way to compete in a youth obsessed world, or perhaps it is something our mothers and grandmothers would have done if they had had control of the family finances.

Appearance medicine is working its way into men's lives as well. Younger men are definitely more interested in grooming than they were a decade ago. Most admit to using their girlfriends skin products, usually  moisturiser, others go the whole hog, cleanser, toner and moisturiser.

People are still spending but they are looking for bargains. Look at Scoopon , Groupon, Cudo etc. There are vouchers for this that and the other, all at ridiculously low prices. These are used by businesses for promotion but would not generate profits for the owners. The only people who make money from these are the owners of the voucher business when they take a large percentage of the fee as their remuneration. Everything has become a commodity. There was even a voucher add for non surgical rhinoplasty! A nose job is now a commodity to be pushed at the lowest price.

So, is it a recession or just a change in spending habits related to online purchasing and discounting? I believe it's the latter and just possibly here to stay.