I am a professor of macro economics. This "asset grab" by the central banks has only just started. There is no doubt that we are now in a vicious unstoppable deflationary cycle. Our system of fiat money has been blown away. Real hard cash is well and truly king. Only a fool would part with it now.

David Jones, Playa del Carmen, Mexico

what a load of nonsense, no shops except boots open in south glam. last year most stores open on same day. even the pubs are dead, and i cant remember a xmas day with so few at the pubs.........

tg, barry, uk

300 percent plus mark-up on clothes, so they have plenty of slack with which to give discounts. Problem is not with how much they can disount but the amount of stock they hold, that is what kills retailers.

ipd, Tokyo, Japan

It will definately get a lot worse and the blame lays with the large manufacturers seeking out cheaper far east and middle east manufacturers at the cost of UK manufacturers. With the level of the pound now it will cost far more to replenish exhausted stocks. Now we will loose banking also.

Tony, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex

300% mark up minus 90%. I'd take it

rb, Florida, US

Ted, after deducting vat/gst most high street retailers try to make a 50% profit per item (before operating expenses), more competitive stores 13 to 30%. By offering 90% off some lines, stores are using them as "loss-leaders" to attract trade. Hope that clarifies.

Peter, Byron Bay, Australia

Ted and others - no they can't make a profit with a 90% discount. They're not selling to make a profit, but to convert illiquid assets (stock) into liquid assets (cash). Think of the banking crisis and mortgage bonds being sold way below par, and you'll understand the state of the high street today.

Alex, London,

Spot on Ted.

Once the 'sales' are over nobody is going to be spending. God help the retailers then.

DOB, Coventry,

Good comment from James (Lymington, UK). It seems people are not at all worried about being mauled as they pick their way through these "malls". Who thought up THAT bright new name - which sounds very Americanish to me ?.

Andrew, Venezuela,

Just back from Westfield. I never seen so many place in a shopping centre before. Spend about £300 and I will have to wait for 30 minutes in some of the shops to pay at the counter!!! I wouldn't say I bought anything at bargain price.

R Stanton, Hounslow,

Congratulations Adam, Now everybody who reads the comments section can see that you were a clever boy! Well done!

Ian, Manchester,

I for one won't be out spending on anything other than food. I have all the clothes I need, bought all the white goods I needed when I had to move house earlier in the year. Cash now safely stored in the bank, not earning a great deal, but better than nothing. I Don't owe money, but BG owe me £300

Roz , Barnsley, UK

If shops can offer discounts of 90% and still turn a profit, however small, it just shows how much we've all been ripped off up until now.

Ted, Townsville, Australia

A empty should always be a sign of less spending as online sales play a big part in consumer spending now.
In a throw away society its no wonder that when consumers get the jitters that it have such a huge effect on the economy.

Niall Maguire, Huntingdon,

People will not learn, will they?
Watch those tears coming and I will have no sympathy.

sylvain , london, England

My comment to Adam, Birminghm, UK please can you tell me? can you eat gold now? because if you can then great but whats the point of buying gold and keeping it if its no good for anything. Most people want to be able ro pay the bills and put food in there belly.
.

James, London, England

When is the media going to revert back to investigative journalism.I was in London today.The likes of Zavvi (Tottenham Court Road) opened with no change to pre Christmas discounts. I spoke to someone in HMV who said "discounts cannot go any deeper unless they want to start making a loss".Damp squib.

charles, Cirencester, Great Britain

Most goods are made in China so most money we pay in the shops are transferred abroad, eventually there is no more UK money left. These consumerisic retailers have no thoughts for the future and have destroyed our manufacturing base in return for short term profits. Now we are really in trouble.

joe, Edinburgh, Scotland

I am sick of huge sale discounts being shoved in my face through windows...then wandering inside to discover most items having just 20% off. You have to try harder than that retailers!

Adam, Bristol,

I agree with Zia Ur Rehman there are few bargains out there and as my dear old mother used to say before she departed these shores, a bargain is only a bargain if you actually need it, I don't need any white goods for my house or expensive clothing to line my wardrobe, just food for my stomach.

william thomson, lincoln, u k

At Debenham in Southend the only queue was for the cafeteria. In the bedding dept the girls were leaning on the tills bored silly. Not many people in the streets and most were just getting some air with no shopping bags.

Martin, Southend on sea,

All of these comments make me laugh. Some of us, such as myself, saw this crisis coming a long time ago and actually invested our money in something that would hold its value (such as gold which is now £580 an ounce compared to about £420 last year). Haha haha

Adam, Birminghm, UK

Not really what you would have called busy in Dundee

tris, dundee, scotland

In a pushchair is right! I saw crowds but no queues. I think people just went out for a bit o' window shopping more than real shopping. But of course there were a few headless people out there willing to exercise their credit cards. Th real crunch will hit in Feb - May 2008. Woe is us.

Russell, London, UK

"Busiest in Memory"... err, what exactly does that mean??

Busy in numbers- like ants we were in Brent Cross this morning, but I didnt see much evidence of people buying - only the old stock was on sale anyway.

anastasia, London,

i didnt see 90% discounts and many stores blended new and old collections in order to trick customers.

also,except mns and jl, a big number of stores was closed (especially on carnabis str)

Ioannis, Aberdeen, Scotland

How funny. I am curently sat watching Mary Poppins with my parents. The scene is where the children want to feed birds with a tumpence. The bank managers are telling them not to bother and invest. "if englands banks fall, england falls" is the quote Haha

Andy , Lichfield,

Anyone can be a busy fool.

Jed fharasi, Bradford,

Point out if i am wrong , i think that newspapers are creating sensation that is more than reality.In the stores, i did not notice any significant reductions in prices of good quality goods, yes there were good offers but only on those things in which the people are normally less interested to buy

ZIA UR REHMAN, london, UK

I'm astonished to have woken up in a Britain in which we have malls.

James, Lymington, UK

The problem for retailers is whether the footfall is incremental or merely pulling forward discounted purchases that would otherwise have been made later at full price. It's not hard to sell things prematurely if you are giving them away.

Paul Freeman, London, England

Mr Abbasi if you are going to emigrate in 2008 you only have 5 days to go! Bon Voyage from credit riven UK.

Ian, Bristol,

Dead cat bounce I'm afraid.

john, milton keynes,

Not sure where the reporter went but at the main outlet mall in Essex today it seemed less busy than a normal Saturday. Also it didnt seem that people were buying much of anything either.

Pete, Braintree, UK

This is rubbish; I've just come back from the Trafford Centre and it was noticably less busy than last year.

Robert, Wigan, Great Britain

When will the UK population how much of a financial crisis the economy is in? So why does this prove false when so many people continue to buy goods they don't need, stupidly isng money that isn't theirs!

Jade, London, UK

This illusion some mis guided people have that stores in uk are ripping people off amazes me, with margins on normal prices for a lot of places at 2% , they are cutting upto 50% off means they are selling at a vast loss, that is no workable buinsess model. More big names will go bust in 2009.

Graham, Southend, UK

Bargain hunting or an addictive illness. If we are this addicted to shopping is there any hope of long term recovery? I hope it's just genuine bargain seekers...but I doubt it.

AndyBG, Paphos, Cyprus

The stores have no option but to slash prices, but how about a message from the politicians (which won't win votes from many) that unless you can afford these items, don't buy them.

DC, London,

Right - so people borrowing money to spend down the shops is gong to save the British economy. Ha - fat chance.
Ever thought abut manufacturing something instead, or does that seem too much like hard work?

Gareth Jones, Dusseldorf, Germany

It's easy really. Claim your state benefits then fritter the money away on consumer goods you don't actually need. Since you never have to pay for anything you never have to engage your brain.

As a prudent saver and investor I am sick of what I see. My new year's resolution for 2008: EMIGRATE.

Haroon Abbasi, London,

"Britain’s economy could be set back by five years as the current downturn deepens."
2003 was'nt such a bad year was it - we were all pretty rich and booming then, so no worries.

jules, esquel, argentina

It appears that some people have still not learnt lessons here. The need for retailers to maintain their cash flows at the "expense" of the consumer aims to recreate the past mistakes - credit=promise=pretend money=pretend GDP.

Worry about the decline in manufacturing not the compulsive consumer.

Claire, Cambridge,

Busiest in living memory ,yes if your still in a pushchair.
Did your reporter even go out to the shops?

Mike, London, England

the whole reason we're in this mess is rampant consumerism. People need to chill and not run around like headless chickens trying to purchase every bit of tat someone manufactures.

Kris, London,

Busy does not necessarily mean profitable, stores are having to reduce the prices to draw trade in, suppliers have not reduced the price that it costs the stores to buy the goods in at.

Jen, Belfast,

Busy sales may help cashflow by liquidating unsold stock but are certainly not as profitable as full-price pre-Christmas trading - except in those retailers where year-round "sale" prices are merely a marketing con where anyone buying at a non-sale price is probably paying an unrealistic rate.

Mark, KETTERING, England

People living beyond their means and not saving for the inevitable 'rainy day' has dawned at last. It is the failure of capitalism to provide people with their materialistic lives, I do feel for the 'undeserving' people losing their homes and livelihoods but I am not sorry that it is happenig.

Paul, Bristol,

It is all SO VULGAR I thought Christmas was a religious festival
There are too many people following the wrong PROFIT

neil durham, Skopelos, Greece

A nice walk along the coast will be better for my health! Who wants to be in stuffy shops?

Ian, Bristol,

Maybe if prices in the UK were not so high all year round we wouldn't have such a mess. Clothing, DVDs, electronics: all cheaper in the US - even with recent exchange rate changes. UK Store PLC has been ripping off its customers for years. I won't be sad at the passing of a few rip-off retailers.

Jonathan, Chicago, USA

Consumer Idiots! - borrowing off credit cards again! People should have learnt to purchase wisely by now. Surely this is the lesson from the last year, frivolity out - prudence in.

George, London, UK

.... and it's a shame that the same commercial pressure does not impact those other over-charging / under-delivering vermin: train companies / car park operators / local councils!

Jonathan, Chicago, USA

It's so sad to see people queuing up at such ridiculous hours to pick up a bargain for something they probably don't need anyway. Desperate retailers are trying to defer what is an inevitable -but necessary - change in consumer spending behavior. New sofa anyone?

Fred, London,

Busy = Profitable? Only if the consumer is prepared to pay more than the retailer paid for the product. If a retailer purchases something for a £100 and sell it for £1,000 - that's profit. But just because a retailer buys something for £100 and has 1000 people buying it at £99.99 - that's not profit

Josh, London, UK

Busy =/= profitable.

Laura Roberts, London, UK