To Recast Retail, focus on adaptability

Recasting Retail New Rules - and opportunities - of the global economy. Howard Levine, Chairman and CEO Family Dollar; Allen Questrom, former CEO J.C. Penney Company and Mark Zandi, chief economist, Moody's Economy.com.

Both the industries and consumers adapted to doing more with less in 2009. Whether we would continue to do that in 2010 or whether the economy might improve? The economy today is measurably better than it was a year ago, and it will be measurably better than this a year from now. The most significant index of this is job growth. After a year of brutal shrinkage, the emplyment market is begining to recover - or at least to shrink more slowly - and by a year from now, we expect to see real growth of somewhere around 150.000 jobs per month.

They credited last year's massive economics stimulus package for this improvement, and said it is directly reflected in retail sales. Core retail sales for Christmas 2008 were down 4%. This past december showed a 1 to 2 percent recovery, and 2010 should se growths of 3 to 4 percent. What we have to come to come to terms with is the fact that in the last decade excessive access to credit and excessive home valuations created an inflated economy.