This sounds like the lipstick effect [0] - consumers buy inexpensive luxuries when they're feeling cash-strapped. Tends to be a leading indicator of recessions

This sounds like the lipstick effect [0] - consumers buy inexpensive luxuries when they're feeling cash-strapped. Tends to be a leading indicator of recessions (though I don't suggest that's the exact phenomenon that's happening here) [0] https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/lipstick-effect.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/lipstick-effect.asp