And no one steps back to look at macroeconomic data to explain what’s going on. The well of free Covid money has run dry for the lower economic class, real wages have not increased, and the inflationary effects of printing another 4 trillion and Fed’s QT monetary policy is impacting them first. The trips to Orlando and NY and pairs of Jordan’s on extended unemployment are done. Meanwhile on the other end of the spectrum, some 3.5 million business owners have been filing amended tax returns to claim several hundred billion in Employee Retention Tax Credits over the last year, which the IRS has already flagged with massive fraud. This money wasn’t used to retain employees, but the program is still touted on late night infomercials and millions raked off the top by tax prep companies that will file on your small businesses behalf. This has been a massive windfall to the upper quintile of income earners, which account for over 40% of consumer spending, which account for 70% of GDP… which coincidentally is way up largely due to all the government spending. That boost in high income earner spending accounts for the premium cabin and international ticket boon the legacies have enjoyed this past year.

This is not about a flawed ULCC model or premium cabin superiority, this is about some pretty egregious government spending and subsequent Fed actions that’s about to bite the economy pretty hard.