What it means. A “buyers’ strike” refers to the refusal by large numbers of consumers to make purchases, typically because of high prices.

Commenting in 1923 about a famous buyers’ strike that followed World War I, B.C. Forbes, founder of the business magazine Forbes, wrote that, “the ‘buyers’ strike’ was not declared merely because the people objected to high prices. The ‘strike’ developed because a very, very large number of families didn’t have enough money to pay the prices asked.”

Why the buzz? Rarely heard in the U.S. for decades, the term has recently been dusted off and used to characterize Americans’ reluctance to buy stocks, homes, and consumer goods during this period of economic uncertainty. Today’s supposed “buyers’ strike” lacks the easy explanation of high prices. So if the term sticks, it may be due for a re-definition, linking it not to high prices but to high anxiety. —Greg Daugherty