Come On, Big Spender!

Retailers hope that consumers will display their freewheeling ways Money does not stay long in Patricia Goodson's pocketbook. Says the manager of a fashionable women's clothing shop in Los Angeles: "If I want something, I'll buy it. My husband and I just bought a brand new Datsun 280-ZX sports car. I feel like I might not be here the day after tomorrow, so I want to enjoy things now."

American retailers wish there were a lot more people like Patricia Goodson around these days. Such a free-spending attitude would help lift the economy from the painful recession that has gripped the...

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