The Washington Post brings more bad new about the economy:

Consumer prices and housing starts fell in October to levels not seen
since the 1940s and 1950s, signs of a collapse in household spending
that threatens to deepen and lengthen any economic downturn.

Although the decline in prices was led by a steep drop in the price
of crude oil, it marked the first time in more than a quarter-century
that so-called "core inflation" -- which excludes the cost of energy
and food -- has fallen into negative territory.

The Labor Department reported this morning that overall consumer
prices declined by 1 percent in October on a seasonally adjusted basis
-- the largest one-month price drop since the agency began compiling
the statistic in 1947.

With the cost of crude oil plummeting, overall energy prices fell
8.6 percent in October compared with the month before, and by 43
percent over the past three months.