As if American consumers don't already have enough on their minds, here come Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the nation's annual rituals of mandatory shopping. The looming twosome are like unwanted dinner guests who arrive in the middle of a stressful marital spat or nerve-racking toddler meltdown. We want to say, "Just go away." But there they are on the doorstep, hungry beasts with cloying smiles, dangling a GPS for under $100 and a Blu-ray player at the amazing price of $128.

These imbalances, at the household, national and global level, appear to be well understood by consumers. They recognize that a business-as-usual binge is likely infeasible and certainly unwise.