I was listening to a report on consumer spending this week that left me unsure about the statistic. After reporting that consumer spending was up a little bit last month, the reporter went right into the fact that prices are also up. There wasn't much detail given, and I was left wondering if consumer spending was up because things cost more or if it was because people were buying more things. With some of the sharp increases in prices we have been seeing, it may be possible that we could buy less and actually spend more. Is consumer spending based on the dollar amount spent or the quantity of product bought? This seems like another economic statistic that could be misleading. I'm no economic expert, but I think there is a big difference between how much we are spending and how much we are buying. If we are spending more and buying less, this would be a bad sign for our economy. Like most economic statistics, I think we need a little more information on this one.