Consumers cut back sharply on spending

[onehandle]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON – Consumers, taking a beating from the worst financial crisis in seven decades, cut back sharply on their spending in October, pushing retail sales down by a record amount.

As President George W. Bush and other world leaders gathered for a weekend summit to search for ways out of the mess, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday pledged to cooperate with other central banks to deal with financial markets he said remain under "severe strain."

"The continuing volatility of markets and recent indicators of economic performance confirm that challenges remain," Bernanke said in remarks to a central banking conference in Frankfurt, Germany.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that retail sales fell by 2.8 percent last month, the biggest drop on record, surpassing the old mark of a 2.65 percent plunge in November 2001 that occurred after the terrorist attacks.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081114/ap_on_bi_ge/financial_meltdown

[dipsydoodle]

1. Probably because

they are buying less on credit quite aside from possibly having less disposable income.

[boomerbust]

2. Exactly

No cash
No credit
No spending
Obama got it right. This economy must be built from the bottom up. Lets just hope he sticks to his guns.

[Acadia Blue]

3. yes, and they are preparing for hard times

[The2ndWheel]

4. Good. If we're serious about the whole climate problem

we can't grow the economy.