"The economy is so bad...

... that people are standing behind President Bush - just for the free shoes!" (Leno)

As a local example of how desperate retailers are, I received in the mail a flyer from J.C. Penney with a coupon announcing:

$10 off on any purchase of $10 or more

Yesterday I went to their store and selected three items marked at $7.99 each - all of them for sale at 50% off. The total, including tax, came to $2.09 with tax - for merchandise that sold for $24 this past summer - 8% of the listed price. The operative principle here is "inventory reduction," and it shows how a deflationary recession can work to the advantage of savers.