We are not buying these items with cash but rather credit. Whether it is a Credit Card, Home equity line etc we are using debt to pay for our goods. While you suggest that the high cost of gas is curbing our spending people continue stretch to send their children to colleges that cost 45K. These are not kids with ambitions of becoming investment bankers or Mckinsey Consultants. And these same parents complain about interest rates going up without realizing that when rates went down the cost of going to college went up at 12% a year.
I believe your frustration comes from the fact that there is a general lack of knowledge about how finance and the economy work. That starts in our school systems.
