There is the family of conspicuous consumers: bankrupt daddy, selfish children and one lone true-heart daughter.

"They'll miss it the most," Keff said, "but at least they aren't the conspicuous consumers."

Perhaps then the conspicuous consumers among us will pay the price.

I have a suggestion for all the reformed conspicuous consumers: get certified, ease the teacher shortage and assuage your guilt.

But baby boomers - conspicuous consumers - may not have room left in their houses for the odd parental keepsake.

Some are turning into conspicuous consumers, running up debts on credit cards like their counterparts in the west.

The company now offers an upright stroller for less conspicuous consumers.

Among simple people and simple virtues, this unhappy couple of conspicuous consumers rediscover the true values, which include marital love.

As such, the Mets, perhaps the recession's most conspicuous consumers, are at the moment an extraordinary, even exquisite abstraction.

A restaurant wine bill can run to thousands of dollars when these conspicuous consumers are in the bibulous vein.