Gas Prices vs. Consumer Spending
A themed Anthem research page built from the supplied dashboard. The analysis compares gasoline shocks with consumer sentiment and discretionary expenditure categories to test whether higher fuel costs function as a tax on the household wallet.
Does gas inflation crowd out discretionary demand?
The report tests whether rising fuel costs are followed by weaker consumer sentiment and slower spend in categories such as entertainment, dining, and apparel.
EIA, UMich, and BLS
The dashboard combines monthly gasoline prices, monthly Michigan consumer sentiment, and annual BLS consumer expenditure category changes.
Interactive scenario work
Use the controls to change lag assumptions, move between scatter and time-series views, and inspect specific historical episodes.
Explore the relationship directly
The embedded dashboard preserves the original interactive logic while fitting the current Anthem site theme. Monthly views highlight timing and lag behavior; annual views focus on category sensitivity; episode views isolate notable shock years.
- Scatter view tests direction and strength with an OLS fit and summary statistics.
- Time-series view shows how gasoline moves line up against sentiment or category performance through time.
- Episode view summarizes selected spike and relief periods for fast historical comparison.
- EIA monthly gasoline series anchors the price-shock side of the analysis.
- University of Michigan sentiment captures consumer reaction at monthly frequency.
- BLS consumer expenditure categories are used to compare discretionary and necessity buckets.