It’s amazing how quickly the economy has tanked just because shoppers have snapped their purses and wallets shut. Given their importance, you’d think there would be some mention of shopping in the Constitution: Life, liberty and the pursuit of products, preferably on sale. Shoppers have not only taken down the U.S. economy, they’ve precipitated a recession in Japan and deep concern in China.

That’s not to say that the country hasn’t genuflected to the drivers of retail sales. We see it everywhere. Zoning laws are written to lure stores within taxing districts, whether neighbors want them or not. The idea is to get people shopping here instead of there. Giant malls reshaped entire cities, leaving the older portions to scramble for crumbs. Downtowns fought back with tax breaks, loans and, yes, those lovely parking garages. It seems as if society has been transformed with the shopper in mind.

Few people would argue that Americans don’t buy enough stuff, yet if we fail to embark on routine sprees, the whole enterprise implodes, taking government budgets with it. There’s something so rickety and cheap about this structure. Saving money should be a good thing. Easy credit should be shunned. But here we are with an economy that will continue to drop unless we shop, and shoppers who have run out of money.

It’s all so depressing. Think I’ll go buy something to take my mind off it.

They b etter be shoppers. Remember when college football and basketball coaches were making a lot more money than college presidents? It was embarrassing. Something needed to be done. I figured the answer was to hold the line on coaches’ pay. Silly me.

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the median pay and benefits of presidents at public research universities rose 7.6 percent in 2007-08, to an average $427,400. Thanks to a $125,000 raise in August, Washington State University President Elson Floyd will make $748,000 for 2007-08.

If he lasts until 2012, he’ll pick up a cool half-million as a retention bonus. The University of Washington’s Mark Emmert will rake in nearly $888,000, making him the second-highest-paid public university president.

The boards that approve these whopping salaries have their reasons and they generally mimic the talking points on why chief executive officers have merited skyrocketing increases.

But taxpayers are involved here, so their concerns ought to be paramount. Most families have three concerns when it comes to higher education. Can their kids get in? Can they get a degree in four years? How much will it cost?

Without progress on those fronts, few people will buy those pay raises.