Americans saving more... spending less

I agree that Americans are addicted to shopping, but that is changing right now.  I was recently sent this article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090201/ap_on_bi_ge/savings_frugal_society_4

This article explains the economy from a macro-economic perspective. Because consumers use credit cards to purchase flashy new things that they cannot afford, they have become deep into debt.  Americans have come to the realization of this debt and become afraid to spend money.  They have started to save money, causing the economy to go down the drain.  I don’t think this poor economy is going to be an easy fix.  People need to spend money in order for businesses to survive, yet people are saving their money to pay of debt.  This causes businesses to close; therefore employees get laid off.  These employees are then without money to put into the economy.  It is a downward spiral that I see, and the only way to fix it is if people start spending money again.  This economy down spiral is going to bring out the strong businesses.  The weak businesses are going to be weeded out of the economy.  I used to work at Linens and Things and saw the store close down six months after I left.  I am not surprised that they went bankrupt because the business was run poorly, at least from what I saw.  Right now business are in need of strong structures and good advertising.  The goal is to get people to push beyond their fear to spend money and use it towards their services or products.  We need to start having better spending/ saving habits to get better, but until then, it just may be painful.