I know that the health of our economy is dependent on consumer spending----at least that is what the economists say. Am I a grinch to not feel the appeal of shopping? For the next month any road around a shopping center in Columbia will be clogged. Somehow an enjoyable holiday has been turned into a frenetic search for the toy every child needs to have or the best price on the "got to have" electronic toy. The commercial this year with the Target lady has got to be the most annoying commercial ever. Is "annoying" the new way to get people to pay attention to your commercial? Do people really buy Lexus and Cadillacs for each other as Christmas presents. I don't know about you but I wouldn't be smiling if my wife surprised me with a Lexus for Christmas. I think my reaction would be more like "Are you crazy for spending that much without us talking about it first?" OK enough complaining. I really do enjoy driving by the holiday lights at Symphony Woods, Christmas music and holiday food. Just don't look for me to "stimulate" the economy this month.
Well done. I agree with most of this. Our culture of "a penny borrowed is a penny earned", by both private and government participants, is the root of our economic troubles. It's harder to grow your way out of debt than people realize. And few people are willing to scrimp and save today to pay for the consumption binge we went on yesterday.
ReplyDeleteThe last president to pay off the national debt was Andrew Jackson. Think about that. That was before the Civil War for goodness sakes. We have been on a fiscally unsustainable path for a long time and the chickens have finally come home to roost.
But I'm sure that spending hundreds of dollars on a second plasma TV will get us out of this mess. Hurray for Black Friday!