[jandrewrogers]

Interestingly, spending on luxury/positional goods does not decline when the economy is poor. This is a well-known effect. That is not where people tend to cut back.

If you looked solely at Apple's revenue during 2008/2009 you wouldn't even know there was a crash, never mind one that was severe by any measure.

[troygoode]

I don't disagree with your point (it is pretty interesting!) but I do think 2008 – one year after the iPhone was introduced – is a bit of a special scenario for Apple that isn't broadly applicable to other stocks/downturns.

[runawaybottle]

It could still be framed within the realm of the underclass. They don’t have enough money to invest, buy a home, pay off debt, but they can certainly buy the best thing within their buying power - a phone, a tv, heavily financed cars, and so on.

I don’t think these buying patterns are incongruous to reality on the ground. In other news, certainly alcohol and drug sales are up too.