This frugal economy - is it the new normal?

When the GFC started in 2008 I remember writing that although many people would lose jobs and there would be a lot of heartache, it might also put a lid on consumer spending for a while.  It did that and there were job losses and suffering but now, five years later, even though we've been told the crisis is over, businesses are still closing and caution is in the air. There is no such things as