In fact, as the Census Bureau reported last week, December retail sales were the biggest disappointment and suffered the steepest monthly drop since the polar vortex. It appears that instead of doing what so many economists thought, and immediately using their "savings" to boost discretionary income, households are either i) saving the lower gas price windfall (and considering the unprecedented savings rate revision gimmick used by the US Department of Commerce to boost Q3 GDP to 5.0% this is completely understandable), or ii) as we explained some time ago, instead of spending on discretionary purchases, households are forced to spend more on far less pleasant, if just as GDP-boosting staples, such as soaring health insurance premiums courtesy of Obamacare (those who benefit from Obamacare most likely don't have any work commute-related expenditures in the first place).

Less has been written about the adverse side-effects of plunging oil, even though by now even the most "undisputed" permabulls have been forced to admit that the imminent collapse in capital spending is truly "unprecedented", a phrase Goldman uses in the chart below.