But, in contrast to that earlier period, we have not experienced a broad increase in inflation; in fact, by some important measures of price trends, inflation actually slowed a bit in 1996. The balance and solidity of the expansion last year can be seen in the composition of the growth. Notably, consumers appear to have been rather conservative in their spending.
In some instances, they may have been constrained by the debt-service burdens accumulated over the previous few years; but in the aggregate, households experienced an enormous further accretion of net worth as the stock market continued to climb at a breathtaking rate.