Yahoo Finance asked 50 top economists, strategists, and advisors for the one chart they are watching right now. QI Research CEO and Chief Strategist Danielle DiMartino Booth explains why she is watching how the Employee Retention Credit is fueling luxury spending and travel. DiMartino Booth argues that the credit is being used by America's top earners, who are "largely" taking the funds and "splurging on fancy international travel."

Video Transcript

[AUDIO LOGO]

DIANE KING HALL: We are introducing a new segment here. Yahoo Finance has launched the YF chart book. It's a basket of approximately 50 charts from Wall Street analysts. The charts give vital insight to the US economy and points to where it is going. We're kicking it off today with a look at luxury travel and what it tells us about recession, government grants, fraud, and the effect the pandemic has had on high- and low-income earners.

Danielle DiMartino Booth of Quill Intelligence created this and can go into the details. So Danielle, thanks so much for joining us today. First off, give us-- tell us what this chart signals at a high kind of headline level.

DANIELLE DIMARTINO BOOTH: So I think the background here is understanding what the employee retention credit is. It was created as part of the CARES Act. And it was designed for smaller businesses, who kept their employees on the payroll, who had their business interrupted in 2020, such that they could claw back up to $21,000 per employee when filing their 2020 tax return.

That was extended and expanded greatly by the Biden administration with the first stimulus check that they signed in. It extended out to the first three quarters of 2021 and also applied up to $26,000 per payroll taxes, including startups-- startups that rose like a phoenix out of the ashes of the pandemic. And that is where I think the IRS is really started to combat a lot of the fraud that it's facing with this program to give you a feel for the scope.