Comments on: I Purchase, Therefore I Am

By: Zoe B

Zoe B — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:28:46 +0000

Our economic dependance on growth goes far beyond ‘Fordism’.

In the local governmental sphere, the costs of public services and maintenance of infrastructure often are not entirely paid by taxes on current residents – they are dependent upon development fees, and increased future revenue from the new developments. If development stops, the budget crashes.

In the Social Security system, current workers pay directly for the support of current retirees. As retirees live longer, and as the ratio of retirees to workers increases, the system depends upon either 1)increased income of current workers (presumably due to increased productivity), or 2)increased numbers of workers (immigration, conversion of non-earners such as stay-at-home moms into earners, various programs to stimulate the native birthrate…).

In the real estate market we basically believe that the current market correction for overvaluation of housing eventually will end, and then the value of our homes again will appreciate during our lifetimes. We believe this even after accounting for maintenance and renovation expenses. Why should it be so? It depends upon: 1)future increases in numbers of households needing housing; 2)future increases in wealth that support the existence of smaller households and/or a greater square footage per person; and/or 3)belief that increased urban density or other dimensions of economic growth will raise the value of a given location.

The American Dream posits that our children will be wealthier than us. You don’t have to measure wealth as increased physical standard of living. It also can be: education, health, life choices, number of cable channels, information, human rights, moral enlightenment, computing capacity, jobs that fit our individual strengths and preferences….

We also believe that we will solve our problems through increased levels of education, technology, accumulated knowledge, tolerance and creativity.

Belief in growth is everywhere in our culture. Let’s not just blame Mr. Ford.

By: hayden fisher

hayden fisher — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 04:39:05 +0000

…there will always be buyers for good products

By: CR

CR — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:04:01 +0000

Sorry, I’m confused if no one buys, wouldn’t production stop?

By: Fred

Fred — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:54:16 +0000

Hayden asks, “Will we see a return to not only traditional urban living but also traditional shop-keeping where the store exists and the first floor and the shopowner on the 2 floors above it?? ”

I just returned from 2 1/2 weeks in Tuscany. Walking around the medieval centers but out of the car free zones (full of high end mostly chain retail) I found numerous examples of workers creating / repairing furniture, musical instruments, shoes, clothing on ground floor levels of buildings they may well have also lived in on the upper floors.

By: hayden fisher

hayden fisher — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:56:39 +0000

…as a corollary to the above, we could say good-bye to the publicly traded company model very soon. Why would we expect a CEO to care about a company he doesn’t own (except by options). We don’t expect renters to care for their houses and apartments as much as the owner-occupiers do.

…the publicly traded company is a socialistic top-to-bottom being, where have all the so-called pure market capitalists been to cast stones at these ill-conceived entities??

By: hayden fisher

hayden fisher — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:47:33 +0000

Another after-effect: instead of depending upon 401K’s and other sources of passive income for retirement and wealth creation over a many year term, perhaps worker will need to get out of both their suburban houses and their middle management workspaces and create something of value to market to the world. Will we see a return to not only traditional urban living but also traditional shop-keeping where the store exists and the first floor and the shopowner on the 2 floors above it??

I’m particularly grateful in this time of dire consequences that I never trusted a money market manager or financial adviser or relied on any of their CONVENTIONAL GARBAGE ADVICE about how to create wealth. If you want something, go make it happen. Only a fool would depend entirely on someone else or a 401K. There’s lots of blame to go around on this one, not the least of which is the Mc401-K cookie-cutter model people foolishly relied upon for years. If someone really wants to create or add value, start-up a new business.

Welcome to the new age of unyielding entrepreneurism!!

By: Sanford

Sanford — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:32:01 +0000

It seems to me the current crisis represents the convergence of the environmental crisis (the planet can’t sustain ever increasing consumption levels) and the credit crisis (the economy can’t sustain ever increasing debt levels). The economy and environment are now sending the same warning message. The underlying cause of these crises is the spiritual void in many people’s lives which results in purchases and consumption being used to substitute for their lack of meaning and purpose.

By: individual identity vs. the financial crisis < what does it mean to be a human being?

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:52:30 +0000

[...] creative class: If Fordist mass consumption had a catchphrase, it was “Keeping up with the Joneses” – and in [...]

By: Fred

Fred — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:42:24 +0000

Ultimately income and expenses (whether for goods or services; whether spent in city or suburbs) will have to balance out. We have been living in denial of that fact by artificially creating “income” through debt. Thirty years ago we could say of deficit spending that we are just borrowing from ourselves – obviously that is no longer true with China, Japan and the oil producing countries owning so much of our debt. Part of the artifical debt created “income” gap is being closed by wiping out the investments of those who were stupid enough to save and live within their means. The remainder will have to be paid off by people consuming less – thus RF’s point of a reduced standard of living is right on.

Right now we are seeing the visible debt (mortgages, credit cards, gov’t deficits) problems. There is an equally large unrecognized “debt” that has been created by future promises for retirement benefits (public and private)and healthcare that are not being funded by an adequate level of current taxes and corporate contributions to pensions.

So far the political solution has been to ring up more debt. Any politician telling people they have to save more and pay higher taxes while reducing their consumption has no chance of being elected.

By: Daniel Carins

Daniel Carins — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:10:00 +0000

Every morning on public radio here in the UK, there’s a short slot called “thought for the day” (www.bbc.co.uk/radio4). It’s usually presented by a religious commentator, and last week I heard one by the chief Rabbi in England. His closing statement was “the age of greed is over, could this be the dawn of a new age of responsibility?”.

I’m hoping that with credit becoming more scarce, investments losing value, and public eager to blame “spiv” culture, that maybe people will seek to define themselves more along ideological grounds, class grounds, family and community ties, and …. personality rather than consumption, celebrity worship, bling, and social atomisation. There are already some inklings of a renewed interest in talking and ideas demonstrated perhaps by increased number of reading groups and rising sales of news weeklies, coupled with declining sales of “lad mags” and attendance at football (that’s soccer to you North Americans) matches. Perhaps. Maybe it’s just my wishful thinking.