As expected, the government reported a dramatic drop in personal
income in January, with that metric, which had soared by 2.6% in
December, plunging by an even more outsized 3.6% for the latest
reported month. This was the largest drop in personal income
since January of 1993.  Now, a sharp retreat in this metric had
been expected, largely because of the end of the payroll tax
withholding holiday, as social security taxes rose from 4.2% of
a wage earner's income to 6.2%. (The percentage paid by self-
employed individuals is materially greater, meantime.) Also
weighing on this figure was the decision by many companies to
pay their first-quarter dividends in late 2012, so that
stockholders would be taxed at a lower rate than will prevail in
2013. Further, some individuals receiving bonus payments had
such disbursements moved up into late 2012, as well.  Still, the
sharp reversal was materially greater than the 2.2% drop that
had been expected. At the same time, the corresponding data on
personal consumption expe