AP Photo
In this June 1, 1973 file photo, Leon Mill spray paints a sign outside his Phillips 66 station in Perkasie, Pa. to let his customers know he is out of gas. The downturn that is probably already under way is powered by the collapse in the housing market and sharp restrictions on credit that are now putting severe pressure on consumer spending and on businesses. That is a very different environment from 1973, when an oil crisis was the culprit, squeezing U.S. businesses and consumers who were forced to line up at gas stations for hours.
