Spending More Money Faster Dept: “…(I)f people only bought what they actually needed, the entire American economy would collapse…” On his weblog, Douglas Rushkoff posts a version of a “CBS Sunday Morning” commentary he did just for the shoppers among us.

“…This may look like an average suburban shopping mall to you — but today’s retail environments are selling machines engineered to extract the most money per second from your wallet.

The science of retail design – what the industry calls ‘atmospherics’ – was born by accident in 1956, with the very first shopping mall, “the southdale center” in Minnesota. This realization of an “indoor main street” provided laboratory conditions for the study and influence of shopping behavior…” [more] [thanks, David]

Related: Retailers Pin Holiday Sales Hopes on Last-Minute Customers: “Despite bustling stores and malls during the last weekend before Christmas, retailers remained anxious and uncertain after a hoped-for sales bonanza failed to materialize.

Many storeowners disappointed by consumers’ cautious buying are now looking with some desperation to last-minute shoppers and post-Christmas bargain hunters for some relief in what has been a difficult holiday season. ” Nando Times