"We are going to do some Christmas shopping," he said. "And Malia and Sasha have already put their list together. It's mostly for Santa. They send their letter every year. But we may do some extra shopping as well."
Asked specifically, Obama declined to recommend that Americans spend some money on Friday, perhaps mindful of criticisms of President George W. Bush for urging shopping as an economic antidote to the shocks of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
"I think families understandably are nervous and concerned about their economic situation," he said. "What we want to do is to be sober, to be clear, to recognize that we've got some real adjustments that have to be made. That's true in individual businesses. It's true in terms of individual family budgets. It's also true for the economy as a whole."
He did urge confidence, noting that "help is on the way." And he cautioned against people pulling back too much.
"What we don't want to do is get caught up in a spiral where people pull back from the economy, businesses then pull back, jobs are reduced and we get into a downward spiral," he said.
"As they think about this Thanksgiving shopping weekend, and as they think about the Christmas season that is coming up, I hope that everybody understands that we are going to be able to get through these difficult times, but we're just going to have to make some good choices."
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