The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index fell 13.5 percent in July to a value of 70.2. The only larger declines in the Sentiment Index over the past 50-years occurred in April 2020 with a fall of 19.4 percent as a result of concern over COVID and during October 2008 at the start of the Great Recession with a fall of 18.1 percent.

Richard Curtin, Chief Economist at the University of Michigan, stated “There is little doubt that the pandemic resurgence due to the Delta variant has been met with a mixture of reason and emotion.”  He added, “Consumers have correctly reasoned that the economy’s performance will be diminished over the next several months.”  The loss in consumer sentiment was distributed across income, age, and education demographics and related to consumer concerns over personal finances, the economy, inflation, and unemployment.

The precipitous fall in the Consumer Sentiment Index illustrates the damage caused by vaccine hesitancy and rejection resulting in ascending incidence rates and hospitalizations for severe COVID. The current trends portend inconvenience and possible shutdowns, irrespective of the misplaced optimism and intransigence expressed by some politicians and science deniers.