From time to time I read federal reserve papers, this one's kind of interesting:

"Sources and Uses of Equity Extracted from Homes" - March 2007

http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/...0/200720pap.pdf

"According to our estimates, discretionary extraction of home equity accounts for about four-fifths of the rise in home mortgage debt since 1990."

"a considerable portion of the equity extracted through cash out refinancings and home equity loans was used to repay non-mortgage debt, largely credit card loans."

Leads me to beleive that slow downs in the housing market are going to have a significant impact on consumption.

Anyone get a different read from this?