It's no surprise to anyone with a checkbook that Starbuck's is not a necessity. When times get tight, you cut the frills. Coffee itself may not be a frill, but Starbuck's is.

I love my cuppa joe as much as the next caffeine-jived person, but mine comes from my coffee pot at home. $4 a pound at Costco, brewed in a pot at home, goes right in the thermos. Voila. Hot coffee all day when I need to go out.

I'd bet that restaurants of all kinds are in the same bind. When money is tight, people brown-bag their lunches. Starbuck's, at the end of the day, is a restaurant like any other. And unless you're traveling for work, restaurants are not a necessity.

Just watch how fast our "service economy" collapses when more people have to stop spending on things they can do for themselves. The death spiral will get really steep when servers start losing their jobs. My guess is that there's a real live depression coming soon.

Trying to build a real economy up again is gonna really suck now that energy is so expensive and loans are so hard to get. I think the U.S.A. has really screwed the pooch this time.

A couple of weeks ago I was doing some on-line work and took a break to read a column on either this site or one like it and some so-called "expert" was being quoted on the collapsing economy.

The person was responding to the question of what sign would concern them as an economic indicator and their opinion was to start worrying when people started selling their personal possessions on ebay.

Funny, that was what I'd been doing on-line before I took a break to read. Selling my personal possessions on ebay is the only way I made April rent.

Don't know what I'll do for May.

P.S. Starbucks? Haven't shopped there in years, really. Scaled back on that shit a long time ago. Once again the reportage is way behind the reality.

The pundits on TV will never admit this, though. But all I have to do is take a drive around my neighborhood. Every other house is up for sale. People are losing everything. My parents now live with me, because they can't make it on their own anymore. (My father lost an exec job in 2001 and couldn't find another one due to ageism...he now makes less than me, working as a GED teacher...I'm a high school teacher.)

I agree that we're heading for a Depression. This "free trade" bullshit is killing the country. We need "fair trade." We also need to stop spending money on a war no one wants. Amazing how the government coughs up dollars for that, but we never have enough money for healthcare, education, police, fire fighters, etc.

There is no such thing as the middle class anymore. People who believe in the middle class are kidding themselves. I'm part of the working poor as a teacher. My parents are flat out poor, since they declared bankruptcy. I never thought my life would be like this: 37, single, parents living with me, no dates or social life in sight. I'm depressed. It won't be long before the economy joins me there.

But is it possible people are buying their beans in the supermarket, where Starbucks has been commonly available for several years?

Or did the declining numbers cover only actual store-brewed coffee purchases? or did they include out-of-store bean purchases?

Tell us more!

Is this just Starbucks facing increasing competition from Dunkin' Donuts, etc.? What is the coffeehouse or coffee industry as a whole doing?

From Seattle's Finest, Peel's and Tim Horton?

I think real desperation will be apparent when Americans start systemically forgoing air conditioning in the summer.

Back when journalists were telling us outsourcing and layoffs weren't so bad, the spiel was that the US has a "service economy" and we should all be happy - those jobs are worth more! Except, the problem is, when times get tough, these are the first things people cut from their budget. Whether it's a latte or home improvements or even going to the doctor - it becomes a luxury compared to paying the rent and putting food on the table. I think that's one reason this recession is going to be difficult, because so many Americans have "service jobs" these days, and those jobs are going to be the first to go.

Not sure what the alternative is, though - I'm one of those high tech science workers that are supposedly in short supply, and I'm seeing jobs in my field going overseas just like factory jobs. And if the service jobs disappear too, because there aren't enough people left with money who can afford to buy those services - what's left?

The economy is gonna get a lot worse before it gets better. I'm sure Bush will get a free pass for that too. Seriously, I question whether anybody could have done a better job of screwing up the US.

That's right, folks--it's BUYING STARBUCKS LATTES!

Do you suppose that people have STOPPED buying Starbucks lattes because they're worried about the economy, and have been reading all those "how to save a buck" articles?

Not that I don't think we need to worry. I do think we need to worry. My partner's looking for a teaching job--I was thinking about suggesting an interim job at Starbucks. (I'm employed, and I took the scut job last recession...)

And move like ya drink it, sistah. Ain't got all damn day.

Your link to the Time article is incorrect:

ttp://time-blog.com/curious_capitalist/2008/04/the_first_starbucks_recession.html?xid=rss-curious

Perhaps it's just my naivete when it comes to the economy - but how does the service economy actually make money for the country as a whole?

To me it doesn't draw cash into the country (except through tourism). Serving coffees to each other just doesn't seem to be very productive.

Meanwhile our cash certainly drains out of the country - to Middle Eastern states to pay for oil and to conduct nasty little wars - and to the Far East, particularly China, to pay for plastic crap like, oh I don't know, Spongebob Squarepants toothbrush holders.

This seems to me the very definition of unsustainable. Perhaps a recession will assist people in getting their priorities back on track?