Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce president (and blogger) Simon Brackley passes along this chart, compiled from Chamber members' responses to the question, "If a declining economy forces you to have to cut business expenses in the year ahead, will you cut?"

(Presumably, there should be an ellipsis after "will you cut." Either that, or it should say, "what will you cut?" But we won't be sticklers. You get the point.)

The question was asked only of Chamber members in the hospitality business—which is still a huge part of the local economy. Click the chart for a larger image.

What's the takeaway? There's a small irony in the popularity of "travel" as a cuttable expense, considering that these businesses rely on other people continuing to travel.

But considering that "other" was far-and-away their first choice, the lesson here may be that businessowners here have no idea where to begin cutting costs—especially since the recession already forced them to hire fewer staff this summer.