Abstract Translate [unavailable for this document]
Even as large banks write off mind-boggling billions of dollars in unpaid debts from their balance sheets and the stock markets remain in a highly volatile state, there are still debates predicting whether the US economy is heading for a full-blown or part-recession. Perhaps one of the more interesting indicators that the good times might be over was a metric from Starbucks last week, which revealed in its fourth quarter results, despite a 35% rise in profits, its first ever drop in customer traffic to its US stores. Long seen as one of the best growth stocks for investors in retail and consumer goods, the company's share price took a big hit. Starbucks' customer traffic hiccup and, paradoxically, its long-running success as a fast-growing business tell us plenty about the US economy and consumer confidence. Indeed this is why some media commentators are describing the impending US downturn as a "latte recession". So how did a small Seattle company that taught Americans, and then the rest of the world, to drink $4.50 coffee become an economic indicator and a marketing phenomenon? This and many other questions are addressed in Oregon-based writer Taylor Clark's book Starbucked - A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce, and Culture (Little Brown).