Proving once again that they are immune to all forms of financial shocks, financial reality and the credit crunch; the British consumer intends to have a jolly good Christmas, and spend themselves out of recession.
That at least is the conclusion of a survey conducted by Deloitte.
In its annual Christmas retail survey, Deloitte found that the average person plans to spend a total of £706 on this year's festivities, up from £662 last year.
However, there is a caveat, the initial survey was carried out in September before the credit crunch started to bite. That being said, the question was reasked in November and the answer given was more or less the same.
Richard Lloyd-Owen, head of consumer business at Deloitte, said:
"Early indicators suggest concerns about bruised financial markets and consumer confidence are nothing more than concerns.
The impact of the credit squeeze could play out in coming weeks when events have had time to percolate through consumer mindsets, but we think it's unlikely."
The largest portion of the increase in consumer's planned expenditure is on socialising, with the average spend expected to be £143 up 18% £121.
Quite whether people will be feeling so happy with their expenditure in January, when credit will be hard to come by, is another matter.
However, Christmas is for wants not needs.
That's the real meaning of Christmas!
The British consumer may just save the economy, let us see.
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