U.S. consumer in the slow lane

(Reuters) - It's up to the consumer to drive the U.S. economy and lift world growth in 2012, and the outlook is far from encouraging. Over the past three and half years, growth in U.S. consumer spending has averaged a paltry 0.2 percent adjusted for inflation, the weakest in the post-World War II period, Morgan Stanley says. While the employment picture is gradually brightening, wage growth is going in the opposite direction, keeping a lid on consumer behavior. ...