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

Giving thanks and going shopping.

Is it a tradition Americans can afford this year?

I'm Sarah Terry sitting in for Warren Alney, and this is To the, from Public Radio International, a daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

Consumer spending dropped more than 1% in October, the biggest decrease since 2001.

It isn't good news for retailers who count on the holiday weeks ahead to bring in a third of their annual sales.

What are retailers doing to bring shoppers in?

Are Americans rethinking their consumer habits in the midst of economic hard times?

Will more people be drawn to this simple lifestyle movement?

On reporter's notebook, Thailand in crisis,

four months of protest have brought the country to the brink of chaos.

First, 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, the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation,

and the Rockefeller Foundation and its campaign

for American workers. More at rockfound.org. I'm Sarah Terry, sitting in for Warren Allney, back

with To the Point from PRI. We'll be talking about this quintessentially American weekend, a day of

Thanksgiving, normally followed by the biggest shopping day of the year. But these are not

normal times. Retailers are bracing for a tough sales season and consumers are rethinking what they

buy and where they buy it. Are these short-term responses to the economy or the beginning of long-term

changes in lifestyle? On reporter's notebook, protesters are bringing

Thailand to a halt. Thousands of people are stranded at the airport in the latest development

...