And the words of the prophets are written ... in my comments

Mere minutes after reading Molly's comment, which concluded:

I think the credit orgy is coming to an end soon and it will take shopping as a past time with it.

I read this:

Strong evidence is emerging that consumer spending, a bulwark against recession over the last year even as energy prices surged and the housing market sputtered, has begun to slow sharply at every level of the American economy, from the working class to the wealthy.

The abrupt pullback raises the possibility that the country may be experiencing a rare decline in personal consumption, not just a slower rate of growth. Such a decline would be the first since 1991, and it would almost certainly push the entire economy into a recession in the middle of an election year.

-- "Americans Cut Back Sharply on Spending," NYT, Jan 14, 08

I knew y'all were smart.