But there are worries that lower oil costs will free consumer spending power, and that prices could then rise.
If its currency weakens for once, consumer spending power could shrink, in theory, and that could help inflation there, too.
The spread of consumer spending power across China means that a company must constantly expand its geographic footprint--but the requirements of scale make it extremely critical to cluster locations appropriately to ensure competitive scale economies.
Temporary factors, including the damping effect of higher food and energy prices on consumer purchasing power and spending as well as supply chain disruptions associated with the tragic events in Japan, appear to account for only some of the recent weakness in economic activity.
Using your money creation power to boost consumer spending might just light the corporate hiring pilot light by jolting demand.
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But the country's few safety activists perceive a deadly double standard, with automakers earning more money from selling cars that offer drivers fewer safeguards a worrisome gap for new middle-class households, whose surging spending power has outpaced consumer protections taken for granted in more developed countries.
"The size of the Indian economy and the rate of growth of the cafe sector, combined with rising spending power and shift in consumer preferences present a tremendous opportunity for us, " says Avani Saglani Davda, chief executive of Tata Starbucks Ltd.
With women holding the majority of power when it comes to consumer spending, it would be wise for companies to ensure the gender distribution on their boards and management teams equals the gender distribution of their customers.
Office for Budgetary Responsibility chief Robert Chote said growth had been slower than predicted when the coalition came to power because of "disappointing" consumer spending, business investment and trade.
Steven Sadove, chairman and CEO of Saks Fifth Avenue, is optimistic despite the fact that tourists, an important consumer for Saks, are taking a hit to their spending power since the Euro has weakened against the dollar.
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And decreased consumer spending (or decreased final demand, in economic terms) means less pricing power for companies and is yet another element of deflation.
Combined with recent sales figures and a rise in consumer confidence, there are "very tentative signs out there that the public mood and spending power is improving", she said.
He argued that the focus should be on how companies can foster innovation and organizational capability to tap the collective spending power of both the high and low ends of the continent's consumer market.
Goldman Sachs has found that it is women who are redefining markets and creating growth by focusing their spending power on purchases such as food, health care, education, clothing, consumer durables, and financial services.
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Even the small drop in France's figure of nearly 3m unemployed (the rate is down from 12.6% when the Socialists came to power in the summer of 1997 to 11.4% today) has boosted business confidence and consumer spending, they argue, and is helping the economy.
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