Celebs on Economy: They're Just Like Us!

"I think the most important thing is the economy. We need to figure out the housing crisis. We need to build up our middle class again."

Was that one of the presidential candidates? No, it was Anne Hathaway, talking to MSNBC during the Democratic Convention.

Recently, CBNC star Erin Burnett told viewers that she is cutting back her spending, Henry Blodget noted.

Her friends are, too, she said.

Burnett's friends must be the American people, as this chart by the Commerce Department, also cited by Blodget, shows.

Has the economy gotten so bad that even celebrities are feeling the pinch and speaking out? Sure, even the super rich are curbing their consumption.

But more to the point, celebs want you to know they feel your pain.

Kate Walsh, the star of ABC's Private Practice, told the New York Post, "We're not using water bottles at home anymore. We're drinking out of the tap."

Actor Jerry O'Connell's solution to weathering the economic downturn is limiting his wife, Rebecca Romijn, to shopping only on eBay and cutting back on buying new shoes.

Diddy ranted about high fuel prices in a YouTube video. He blamed the spike in gas prices for having to park his private jet and fly American Airlines instead. (The Palm Beach Post later reported that based on federal aviation records, it appears that Diddy does not actually own a jet.)

Still, Diddy is not alone in the air. Virgin America reports seeing more stars, including Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, and Janet Jackson, give up private jets and take to the cattle cars.

That is, if they continue to travel. Valerie Bertinelli told the New York Post about the crimp the economy is putting in her family's plans, "We are not taking a vacation this year. We are doing a stay-cation, staying at home."

Andrea Chalupa

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