Christmas "layaway" plans go back to the Great Depression, when retail stores wanted to keep low-income shoppers. Credit cards put an end to all that but this year, "layaway" is being revived in a big way by Walmart, Sears, Toys "R" Us and many others. Louis Hyman is Professor of Labor Relations, Law and History at Cornell University. He's author of Debtor Nation: The History of America in Red Ink.
