Here?s to Finishing Well (Editorial)

Despite numerous lingering economic problems, consumer spending for the coming holiday season is expected to exceed last year’s holidays.r

So says the National Retail Federation, which is predicting an increase of 5.7 percent over last year’s holiday spending.r

The fourth quarter for retailers is like Christmas morning for kids. They look forward to it throughout the rest of the year, persuaded that this year all their sugarplum dreams will come true.r

Even record holiday sales like last year’s leave retailers vaguely disappointed, like the child surrounded by dozens of toys and torn paper who asks, “Is that all?”r

The hard-core Christmas selling still begins on the day after Thanksgiving, but the holiday season that used to comprise Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year’s Day now also includes Halloween. And Halloween, once a one-day holiday like St. Patrick’s day, has become a month-long festival.r

The entire fourth quarter has become an orgy of consumerism, and several signs point to a strong ending for 2003: Tax cuts, child credit checks, low inflation and lower mortgage payments, a cautiously optimistic stock market and early signs of a rebound in employment.r