DAVID LEONHARDT: Yes, it is. I mean, in many ways, today's report was the end of an era. Dating all the way back to the early '90s, consumers have increased their spending every single quarter.

They did it through the recession of 2001. They did it even as incomes were not growing very quickly during this recent expansion. And they did it in many ways by taking out more debt, and that debt is behind a lot of this housing crisis.

JEFFREY BROWN: That propped us up -- that propped us up over the last few years, is that right?

DAVID LEONHARDT: That's right. That's right. In some ways, you can think about it as we were stealing from future consumption over the past decade and now we pay the price for that.

--From last night's Lehrer News Hour (emphasis mine)

Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Economy • Personal Finance • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007--

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