Shopping is patriotic - if not essential

At a Press Conference at 10 Downing St. post 9/11 the (then) Dear Leader said.
"People in this country ask what should they do at a time like this," Mr. Blair said. "The answer is that they should go about their daily lives: to work, to live, to travel and to shop"

Rudolph Giuliani, the Mayor of New York, on CNN on September 21, 2001 said “Come here and spend money, just spend a little money, go to a store, do your Christmas or holiday shopping now, this weekend. … buy your birthday gifts for the next three or four months.” He added: “We’re the best shoppers in the world.”

Apparently Alastair Darling is preparing whopping tax cuts for us all so we can rescue the bankers by all going shopping.

Consumption and retail therapy is the universal - if not global, cure - all.