Colin Powell is a military man, not a marketing analyst, but he keenly recognized the mood of American consumers last week, when he talked about the "oscillations between euphoria and distress." The shock of war's beginning has passed, but Americans are left swinging between the moods of hope and resignation about the war and the economy. In one sense, consumers are hunkering down, digging in and embracing reality. They are postponing big decisions and avoiding the kind of purchases that fuel the economy: autos, houses, appliances. (Suddenly the old car doesn't look so bad.) Yet simultaneously they realize that the unthinkable...
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