[Nyororin]

I honestly don`t think that the economy is hitting the normal consumer nearly as much as it appears to be in the US. No one around me has been laid off, had pay cuts, etc. Nowhere around me has closed down...
But it seems that if I call any relatives in the US that is all they talk about. Someone losing their job, someone`s company closing down, etc.

I think that as a result of the big burst of the bubble back in the 90s, people learned quite a bit, and aren`t quite in the same sort of position. There is a big enough level of buffer that normal citizens aren`t really taking the hit.