your linked article says at the end:<p>&quot;But it would also be silly to suggest the economy didn&#x27;t play a role. Gas prices began their dizzying rise early in the decade, which discouraged driving. Real estate cooled off in 2006, which discouraged spending on expensive items like cars. It&#x27;s not as if everything was peachy until the day Lehman imploded.<p>That&#x27;s why it&#x27;s very hard to look at these charts and discern anything about the future. The degree to which Americans have taken their foot off the gas pedal in just a few years is pretty remarkable. &quot;