If consumers have money to buy anything with, that is. The Labor Department said this morning that consumer prices fell 1 percent in October from September levels -- the biggest decline in at least six decades. Of course prices won't continue to fall at this rate. October represented an abrupt popping of what turned out to be a summer energy bubble. But there is little inflationary pressure as far as the eye can see. Some items never experienced inflation, even at the height of the frenzy. Apparel prices fell 1 percent in October, but apparel has been on a consistent deflationary course for a decade. Clothing prices are 10 percent lower in nominal dollars than they were in 1998. If we account for the depreciation of the dollar due to overall inflation, apparel prices have fallen even farther.