Here in Midlothian during the past seven years giant houses sprouted up like crabgrass and now it's all come to a halt. A developer I know buys farmland and brings in groundgobblers that chew up the grass and trees and spit it all out and then gouge out strips for streets to pave and puts Big Hair houses and driveways there for suburbanites to park their big old gas-thirsty behemoths. He told me the other day that he has sold only 34 out of 150 lots on a parcel of land near my house. "Good," I said. "I'd say we're saturated with Big McCastles and rolling pollution machines." This wasn't polite but what I was thinking was worse.

Also a local Wal-Mart employee told me that shoplifters are hitting them with the old five-fingered discount at an even higher rate than the usual $3 billion yearly. Some even bring the lifted loot back for a refund to buy gas with. And more Americans are...
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Suggested intro: The latest figures show the U.S. economy continues to grow, but at a snail's pace. Commentator Tom Dodge understands consumer fears, but does that explain what he's seeing of late?

Tag: Tom Dodge is a writer from Midlothian, Texas.