Ah youth! Ah consumption!

This afternoon I went in to get a haircut to get away from the drab curriculum stuff I'm dragging myself through. When I got there, I heard news from the market (which I had successfully ignored all day). And then I heard this young lady barber telling her buddy (who was sweeping the floor) that an Uggzz (sp?) outlet had opened near her sister's house: "But I can't go because I have no money! So I say, lets go Monday after I get paid!"

That's the spirit. This after I read this morning in the New York Times article about food banks and soup kitchens that "tax data show that 55 percent of Americans have no interest-bearing savings accounts to draw on during hard times. Among the bottom half of taxpayers, who make less than $30,000, two-thirds have no interest income." On the one hand, a little outlet shopping shows consumer confidence and is perfectly in line with the old "Stimulus" rationale. On the other hand, a person who has "no money" is part of the at risk portion of the populus. Hair cuts may be a cyclical commodity, but they are eminently discretionary.