Taking the temperature of the US consumer

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Betsy Kirchen conducts phone interviews for the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers. (Photo: Wailin Wong / NPR) Wailin Wong/NPR hide caption

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Wailin Wong/NPR

Betsy Kirchen conducts phone interviews for the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers. (Photo: Wailin Wong / NPR)

Wailin Wong/NPR

Economic indicators like the Consumer Price Index can tell us a lot about the past, but what about the future? For close to 80 years, policymakers have relied on the Surveys of Consumers to give them an idea of what the economy might do next. Today on the show, we go behind the curtain at the University of Michigan to meet the people in charge of checking the vibes of the U.S. consumer.

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