American love our "stuff.
"Big honkin' TVs the size of a wall, ear splitting sound systems that rival any concert hall, nice cars, big houses.
The more stuff and the nicer it is the better we like it.
The good part is that is exactly the way American business likes us to be.
The more stuff we buy, the more money circulates.
The only problem is that we can't afford the stuff anymore.
Until recently, Americans actually had a negative savings rate.
That's right.
No money in the bank for emergencies.
No money to buy our kids the textbooks they need for their first year of college.
We spent more than we took in and thought it was a wonderful thing.
The economy kept chugging along based on the seemingly insatiable appetite of the American Consumer to want and buy more and more and more stuff! Then the party ended.
Partly from the bursting of the housing bubble and partly from the crash of the financial services industry and partly because no one can stay drunk forever (you gotta pass out sometime!).
It finally dawned on people that they couldn't pay for the stuff they had and they stopped buying and, worse, stopped paying for stuff they got on credit.
Now, it seems American business wants people to start consuming, again.
Yep.
That's right.
Buy, buy, buy.
Between the never ending commercials on TV and the endless inundation of "get rich now!" schemes we find either on late night TV or the Internet, we are bombarded by messages to indulge our desire for immediate gratification.
What American business seems to forget is that the consumer can't afford the "stuff" anymore.
People are starting to realize they need a few pennies in the bank to cover a medical emergency or help with Grandma or make the next month's house payment.
We really need to re-think our whole system.
No, I'm not saying we should redistribute wealth or that simply "taxing the rich" will solve our problems.
I am thinking that there needs to be a better way to build our economy.
There needs to be a way to create wealth in the United States that is not based solely on enticing people to spend every dime they have.
I'm not an economist and I don't play one on TV but thinking outside the traditional box of "things that worked before" might be more successful.
It is time to stop consuming and start producing, again.
Whether that production is in manufacturing things like solar panels or wind turbines or information services, we cannot continue to spend our way into prosperity.
We must produce our way into prosperity and show that ingenuity, creativity, hard work and innovation works as the new engine of American commerce.
"Big honkin' TVs the size of a wall, ear splitting sound systems that rival any concert hall, nice cars, big houses.
The more stuff and the nicer it is the better we like it.
The good part is that is exactly the way American business likes us to be.
The more stuff we buy, the more money circulates.
The only problem is that we can't afford the stuff anymore.
Until recently, Americans actually had a negative savings rate.
That's right.
No money in the bank for emergencies.
No money to buy our kids the textbooks they need for their first year of college.
We spent more than we took in and thought it was a wonderful thing.
The economy kept chugging along based on the seemingly insatiable appetite of the American Consumer to want and buy more and more and more stuff! Then the party ended.
Partly from the bursting of the housing bubble and partly from the crash of the financial services industry and partly because no one can stay drunk forever (you gotta pass out sometime!).
It finally dawned on people that they couldn't pay for the stuff they had and they stopped buying and, worse, stopped paying for stuff they got on credit.
Now, it seems American business wants people to start consuming, again.
Yep.
That's right.
Buy, buy, buy.
Between the never ending commercials on TV and the endless inundation of "get rich now!" schemes we find either on late night TV or the Internet, we are bombarded by messages to indulge our desire for immediate gratification.
What American business seems to forget is that the consumer can't afford the "stuff" anymore.
People are starting to realize they need a few pennies in the bank to cover a medical emergency or help with Grandma or make the next month's house payment.
We really need to re-think our whole system.
No, I'm not saying we should redistribute wealth or that simply "taxing the rich" will solve our problems.
I am thinking that there needs to be a better way to build our economy.
There needs to be a way to create wealth in the United States that is not based solely on enticing people to spend every dime they have.
I'm not an economist and I don't play one on TV but thinking outside the traditional box of "things that worked before" might be more successful.
It is time to stop consuming and start producing, again.
Whether that production is in manufacturing things like solar panels or wind turbines or information services, we cannot continue to spend our way into prosperity.
We must produce our way into prosperity and show that ingenuity, creativity, hard work and innovation works as the new engine of American commerce.
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