From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Economic decline in a culture of credit.

Hello again, I'm Warren Olney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

There may be fewer paper towels in the package, but you're still paying the same price.

Same thing for dog food and trash bags. Hidden inflation in supermarkets is just one sign of how

consumers are affected by a troubled economy, even when they don't notice. As mortgage lenders

and Wall Street brokerages are bailed out,

the next bubble to burst may be in the credit card market.

On to the point, what's next for low-income retirees,

recent college graduates, and first-time homebuyers?

If you've got some money, is this the time to invest?

On reporter's notebook later on, another disaster in the

Mississippi River off New Orleans. First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio

International Program Fund, whose contributors include the Ford Foundation and the John

D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation.

Hello again, Warren Alony, back with To the Point. Americans are carrying $2.5 trillion in consumer

debt. The average household owes credit card companies $8,500. On To the Point, will that be the next

bubble to burst? Will consumers change their behavior to meet

the challenges of a troubled economy? On reporter's notebook, an oil spill has closed the mouth of the

Mississippi River to shipping, but not to pollution. We'll hear about threats to wetlands and the water

...