American Consumers

I have been curious to see how American’s would react on a consumer basis as the holidays approach, with the economy crisis. The title "Buying Binge Slams to Halt" caught my eye when I was looking through the Times. Along with the title, the photograph displaying a 60% off sign for the holidays in a clothing store was surprising. I enjoyed the second part of the lead, “American households appear to have fallen into their own defensive crouch.” It makes the story more interesting because it relates closer to home, focusing on the effects for personal finance, rather than the banks finance issues.
The format followed a circle, starting out with a focus on consumer culture and ending, leaving the reader thinking about a possible change in consumer culture. The first part gives some facts about consumers spending habits and follows up with something that shocked me. Circuit City is going out of business! I was surprised by this; they are a huge corporation, and also one that is a popular spot for holiday shoppers. I think the story was a big long and drawn out for the topic.
The main points included, the prospects of our new presidents Stimulus Package, information on polls from Andrew Kohut, of Pew Research Center, the job market change and ties to income, the economists forecast and finally a few powerful quotes from Joshua Shapiro, of MFR; “Everything has changed.”
The data presented in this story is interesting and definitely something to think about. I wonder however, what a handful of actually consumers would say about their plans for spending during the holiday season, rather than what the numbers and polls say for them. The lead used in this story is the wordplay lead.