The economy is nothing like any food item. It grows and shrinks--it is not a fixed size.
And what you say about the changing economy is spot on, funny how government is not tied to any economic laws. They grow while we shrink.
How does that happen?
I believe the middle class has been scraping by and have unmet wants like mom's KitchenAid appliance that they have not been able to afford since big oil went all Clinton on us in 2007. Now that a few dollars will be left over, if not sucked off by Obamacare, some flurry of expenditures will be seen here in the short term.