But is retail therapy really the best remedy? See how our confidence and shopping list today compares to when we were all feeling rich.    

It seemed as though we were starting to shake off the kind of economic dreariness that comes from the fear of being broke and penniless. But nope, we U.S. consumers are back to feeling dejected and gloomy, worried about jobs and business conditions.

Our confidence in today’s job market - not to mention tomorrow's -  got bleaker in June, according to the Conference Board. Our bad moods kicked in after it almost seemed we were perking up in May.

But the small monthly swings are barely amusing.  To really gauge of how we’re feeling, let’s compare how we feel now to the days when we were all millionaires.  

Consumer Confidence Index in June 2009: 49.3

Consumer Confidence Index in Dec. 2006: 110.0

(Don’t worry if you can’t read an index: 49 is lower than 110 is all you need to know.)

Still, you’d think our shopping plans would have changed a little more. Back in the day, when we were young and naïve and thought our collective net worth would rise, about 5.4 percent of people said they planned to buy a car in the next six months. (Today it’s 4.6 percent.) Back then, about 2.9 percent said they’d buy a new home (today it’s 2.7 percent) and 9.5 percent said they’d buy a new t.v. set (today,  7.4 percent of folks had such plans.)

Is Obama stimulating the economy? Are we relying on retail therapy to cure our economic depression? Kind of like how a drunk turns to drink?

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