 Economists have wondered if this kind of increasing price sensitivity was going to result in consumers spending less. And at first glance, that looked like it could be the case with today's retail sales numbers. The overall number was flat, with automobile sales down at least 2%. But that, it turns out, was an illusion. The software company that provides a lot of the back office software for car dealers was hacked. Eric Winograd is chief economist at Alliance Bernstein.