Hey, big spenders (TT May04 p6-7)

Shop until you drop – that seems to be the motto UK households have lived by for the past five years and despite widespread expectations that households would eventually buckle under the weight of record levels of indebtedness, there are no signs of them dropping just yet. Even the first rises in interest rates for four years – and the threat of more to come – appear to have done little to deter them from spending every available penny, if not more. Does the continued strength of household spending mean that previous doubts over its sustainability were unfounded? Or does it mean that overstretched households are heading for an even harder fall than feared?