There is already evidence that corporate-loan demands have diminished sharply and that commercial banks have hesitated to lend while choosing to firewall risks.
In the last two years, however, Hudson City's earnings have declined as interest rates have fallen and demand for its mortgages has diminished.
And while gasoline demand in the United States has diminished in recent months because of the soft economy, oil supply inventories recently reached a 22-year high.
Lee Hardman, a currency analyst at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in London, said "safe haven" demand for the dollar has diminished because the global authorities have helped to restore a degree of stability to financial markets.
In the Apr. 12 issue this year, for instance, I spotlighted Hartmarx, which has suffered from the business-casual trend that has diminished demand for men's suits.
The steady success — 14 consecutive division titles through 2005, plus three playoff appearances in the last four seasons — has diminished the demand for tickets.
Independent of the supply-chain problems, Asian market demand for high-end iPhones has diminished in recent years as Samsung and other manufacturers have produced their own phones of similar quality.
But as water demand has since increased and rainfall has diminished, Mr. Campbell reinstituted and ratcheted up the restrictions.
In the secondary sector, the number of jobs in manufacturing (where unions used to be strongest) has diminished, and the qualifications demanded of workers have changed markedly.
With economies around the globe weakening, demand for oil, copper, grains and other commodities has diminished, bringing down prices of these raw materials.
