Can Buddhism be viewed as a threat to the capitalist way of life? As capitalism depends on the desire to consume (the more you consume the better), is it fair to say that Buddhism goes against capitalism?

Or does anyone thinks that Buddhism can coexist very well with capitalism?
Buddhism is a threat to the universe... the answer to the famous "what would happen if everyone became enlightened?" is that the universe would cease to exist. 

In the meantime, sure, the more people in a society practicing Buddhism the less the demand for new products, prices drop, people have less money, less spending, even less demand, and so on. 

On the other hand, I don't think this would immediately threaten capitalism as a philosophy, in the sense that barter could still carry on unimpeded; truly necessary items could still be shared and traded, and a free market would probably do well in such a society.

I imagine there would be many socialist aspects to the society as well, involving health care, social assistance, etc. But would the society incline towards communism? I doubt it - communism seems too structured to me; people would probably just mind their own business, sharing or trading as needed.

I've always thought that the only problem with capitalism is greed. I'm not an economist, by any means, but my short answer is no, I don't think it would be a threat to capitalism.

Economic materialism, sure.