retail IS the economy. Sure, you can pump money into building fighter jets and aircraft carriers, but those don't last long, nor are they helpful for economy i

retail IS the economy. Sure, you can pump money into building fighter jets and aircraft carriers, but those don't last long, nor are they helpful for economy in the long term. In the long term, the only backbone of the economy is making and selling things to people that they want, a.k.a retail.