English Social Sciences Economics

In November 2008,on Black Friday,the biggest shopping day of the year,Jdimytai Damour was trampled to death.And this took place in a recession year,against a background of growing economic insecurity,rising gas prices,mounting consumer debt ,collapsing mortgages,and increasing unemployment.Retailers had been worried that Black Friday revenues would suffer.Instead,Damour suffered the ultimate loss,and America kept on shopping.We are a society of consumers,we're told.We shrug and nod and accept this as a fundamental truth.It's just human nature,is more or less what we tell ourselves.
And boy do we shop.Globally,personal consumption expenditures(the amount spent on goods and services at the household level)topped $24 trillion in 2005,up from $4.8trillion in 1960.In 2004-05,Americans spent two-thirds of our $11 trillion economy on consumer goods,with more paid for shoes,jewelry,and watches($100 billion combined)than for higher education($99 billion).