Ithaca, N.Y.

IN another sign that the national economy is suffering through a rerun of the 1970s, Wal-Mart recently announced that it was bringing back its Christmas layaway program. Beginning on Oct. 17, shoppers who buy at least $50 worth of goods, put 10 percent down and pay a $5 fee will be able to pay for their purchases slowly over the next two months, all for the ostensible purpose of avoiding debt.

Wal-Mart’s press releases suggest that the restoration of the layaway program, which was discontinued in 2006, is meant to help its customers “budget” so that Christmas can be “worry-free.” The company is partly playing on the economic insecurity of its customers, and partly on the national nostalgia for the days before credit-card debt. But the truth is, the program is a bad deal for everyone — except Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart is not alone in the return to layaway; Sears and Toys “R” Us also have revived their programs. The plans first became common in the 1930s. Stores that catered to the well-to-do, like department stores, offered no-interest credit to be paid off at the end of the month. But store owners feared extending such offers to lower-income shoppers, believing they were likely to be slow to repay, or even default on their debt, which would tie up the store’s working capital.

Stores didn’t want to turn away lower-income customers, though — hence layaway. It allowed them to impulse shop and take advantage of sales, but it also protected the store’s capital. And if shoppers couldn’t pay the layaway, the store could resell the goods.