70% of the US GDP is derived from this.
You wonder why banks don't want to lend? Those who need it are those in debt, the rest don't want the money. I argue this is why the middle class is where it is, false creation of wealth through debt. The great unwind is already underway. A vicious feedback loop will ensue and the overall drag on the economy will be severe.
From Reuters:
Retail sales fell 1.2 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted $375.5 billion, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday. It was the sharpest drop since August 2005 and far greater than the 0.7 percent decline economists had expected.
"We have an all-out consumer retrenchment under way," said National City Corp chief economist Richard DeKaser in Cleveland, adding he expected the economy to shrink in coming months.
