Shopping, of course. The US used to be the world leader in personal debt but today it's the UK, where it's even greater than the GDP. (The US is slightly lower.) As the economy melts down the endless shopping days are coming to an end. Here in France - where credit is a few decades behind the US and UK, thankfully - shopping is generally done with debit cards and it's tumbling as well. The UK shopping, from The Independent.
Evidence of the turnaround in shopping habits – from extravagance to frugality – is clear, says the Bank of England. Instead of lavishing money on big money items such as televisions and sofas, shoppers have turned into bargain hunters and are scouring discount stores and factory outlets.
Its summary of business conditions for this month, released yesterday, states: "More generally, discretionary spending was seen to be shrinking, with retailers reporting that fewer consumers were treating shopping as a leisure activity – reflected in reductions in both impulse spending and visitor numbers at shopping centres."
Pundits agreed that for a significant number of Britons the days of enjoying a spot of retail therapy seem to be over – for now. Retail sales fell for the first time in three years last month, down 0.1 per cent, but the number of shoppers fell 3 per cent year-on-year in October, according to the research company Synovate.
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