This has something to do with it:
U.S. savings rate hits lowest level since 1933: Consumers depleting savings to buy cars, other big-ticket items
Trend analysis indicates that Americans are now, on average, spending more than they earn. Canadians aren't much better off. This can't continue indefinitely, and the longer it goes on, the harder the shit will hit the fan.
Compound the problem with the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the likelihood of a recession, this could very well be a recipe for disaster. But, on the positive side of things, Americans are well known to be resilient in bad times. This will be no hell in a hand basket, nor doom and gloom. Bad times maybe.