You always learn by going to a place, so after a week in the US, I’m looking at five of the things that will tell us about the health and direction of the world’s largest economy in the near future.

It is a particularly interesting time because the initial welcome the financial markets gave to Donald Trump has faded. The jitters are back, and people are asking whether politics or economics will be the driving force in the coming weeks. Let’s stick to economics, and this Easter weekend is a good place to begin. It is a big shopping weekend and the question is: have American consumers recovered their mojo?

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The forecasts are good. Consumption has been weak for the first three months of the year but recently consumer surveys have been more positive, notably the University of Michigan one last week and estimates by the National Retail Federation. But surveys are only surveys; the numbers that matter are at the tills. Forecasts are for people to spend $18.4bn (£14.7m) over the weekend, an all-time record. Warm weather is expected to help. We won’t get accurate data for a few days but we will get stories from key retailing operators as to whether they have done well or it has been more so-so. There should be enough data by the end of the week to form an opinion.

Remember that consumption in the US is more than 70 per cent of the economy, so that, plus other forward-looking indicators (there are some housing numbers this week) will start to give a feel for US growth in the second quarter. Yes, I know we are just into that period, but the US recovery is becoming one of the longest on record so you have to ask about its durability. So far the falling unemployment rate has not led to wage-push inflation, and there is a lively debate as to how low can it go without that happening. But just walking around, not only in DC itself, but down in South Carolina and Georgia, you see a lot of job vacancy notices posted.

The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

One thing that might prolong the expansion would be a fall in the dollar, boosting demand for exports and trimming imports, though unless more discouraged workers are pulled back into employment that would tighten the job market yet further. In the next few months we look likely to get some sort of understanding with China, but the more immediate question here is: can Trump push the dollar down? It had a wobble following his comments last week, but as a general rule, exchange rates are determined by economic forces rather than political initiatives. But sometimes a political initiative reinforces a move that was starting to take place anyway, and capital flows could push the dollar down in the weeks ahead. For example, some investors are talking of switching money out of highly valued US equities to lower-rated European ones.

One unfortunately not very reliable measure of investor is the VIX, the volatility index traded in Chicago. It is dubbed the “fear index”, and it has shot up in the past few days. It is still below its low-term average, but watch the fear index in the weeks ahead.