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Politics : High Tolerance Plasticity -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Second_Titan who wrote (2647)	3/31/2001 11:54:36 AM
From: Think4Yourself	Respond to of 23153

Retail sales figures for March should hold the answer to the question of whether consumers are still spending and can help us climb out of the rut. Personally I have noticed a substantial decrease in customers in recent weeks at the stores I visit regularly. Best Buys are empty, Home improvement stores have been empty, Walmart has noticeably fewer shoppers, and the malls don't appear as full as normal. Perhaps it is a local phenomenon due to the slowdown in the auto industry? We shall know soon. Most folks around here are heavily in debt after buying new 3,000+ square foot houses as an investment. Many didn't even have the cash or credit to put in the ornamental horticulture the first year or two. If they start getting concerned about their jobs or assets, it is going to get real ugly real fast. There won't be a demand for all those huge houses if we slip into a recession. It seems to me that the rate of bankruptcies should also indicate the ability of consumers to spend.