The causation in the demise of the US economy, and ultimiately recession, can be explained through my first hand account in selling a camera on Criagslist. The post went something like this: NEW IN BOX Canon 50D 15.1MP DSLR (no lens). $1025 VERY FAIR PRICE
In the box: EOS 50D body, warranty card, eyecup, wide neck strap, video cable, USB cable, battery pack, battery charger, Great Photography Is Easy booklet and Do More with Macro booklet, EOS Digital Solution CD, software instruction manual
I'm located close to Elephant Pharmacy in Berkeley. The $1025 price point was based on Amazon's price of $1100. In my opinion, a $75 discount, no shipping, pick up locally - very resonable. The first few emails received was that of the usual run of the mill Africa scams - no problem - *delete*delete*spam* The next few emails were disturbing. Most were lowball offers (very low offers), I suspect these have a correlation with economic conditions. However, the best out of the bunch was: Hi Lee, is it a Japanese body? I know it's a fair price for a brand new Canon 50D and I only can afford it for $700 in cash. Because I am only working for a part-time job, I still need to pay off my rent, tutition fee........I very appreciate!! I mean, come on! Set your priorities. Rent and tuition should come first before anything else. Moreover, if you can't afford something, don't buy it! I don't want to sell this person a camera and later find out she was kicked out of school and homeless. This makes me sad. Where is America's common sense? -man- | 
