“I think this is really common sense. I mean, if you think about a household budget, people are not going to cut back on necessities. They are going to try to pay their mortgage, pay their light bill, certainly buy food,” says Dr. Walden, a professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “And in terms of driving, they are still going to have to drive themselves to work, back and forth, school, other kinds of necessity driving tips.

“Instead what most households will do if they have to cut back, they are going to identify lower-priority items. And so if we think about the average household that’s probably going to mean:

· less eating out in restaurants;
· cutting back on entertainment –- going to the movies, for example;
· cutting back on shopping, casual shopping -– that is, where you go to the mall on the weekend and just buy things on sight.

What about vacations? “I think people will still take vacations this summer,” Walden says, “but they are probably not going to go as far. They maybe [will] cut out a day here or there in order to reduce the total costs.

“And so in terms of the places that are going to suffer I think we’ll see [less] activity at the malls, shopping centers and other retail outlets … this year than last year.”