Comments on: Trickle-down consumption

By: SeaWa

SeaWa — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:45:31 +0000

This resonates. It feels right to me. One danger however, is to rely on a head count assuming the heads belong to the same people year to year. I’ve seen a lot of economic movement between acquaintances in my life, some way up, a lot a little up, and some down. So I would surmise that the churning within a class has to be an attribute included in an assessment the psychological drivers to consumption.

By: NobleKin

NobleKin — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 23:44:40 +0000

Commenting on an article expressing the findings of a study of human nature and the economic implications of the studied behavior with ‘no duh’ or ‘we’ve always known this is keeping up with the Jones’s’ is idiotic.

Folks like these are similar to those who know the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening, but care little about how and why…and who are Capernicus, Newton and Einstein anyway?

These same folks care little about Keynsian theory or why ‘Trickle Down Economics’ is such a bitter failure…so long as their political party throws enough red meat to keep them angry or fearful, why would facts and logic be necessary?

Thanks for bringing attention to this study. Food for thought.

By: urownexperience

urownexperience — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:21:24 +0000

Soon, we won’t be able to afford heath insurance. Then why save if the first illness wipes you out? The country is going down.

By: GLK

GLK — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:56:18 +0000

Many people are in debt because they’ve simply discarded the notion that saving equals financial security. They’ve accepted that they’ll never get ahead because the game is rigged. Therefore, the rationale ‘life is short so enjoy it while you can’ pervades. This systemic economic pessimism is exacerbated by high unemployment, plummeting wages, high fuel costs and dismal property values. There simply is no positive incentive for the average citizen to make sacrifices for such a hopeless economic future.

By: crlos3

crlos3 — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:25:43 +0000

The government is taxing and spending a much greater portion of the GDP than is historically done. It is running up debt almost faster than you can count it. They already spent all the money in the SS trust(?)fund. They moved all the taxation on gas to the general fund instead of taking care of the roads and bridges and now they want money for that. They made so many promises to so many people that they will never be able to keep. So now they need scapegoats and you are helping them.

If you took every asset from everyone who is making 250k it will not even come close to covering all their promises. In a year it would all be gone and then what?

They need to get rid of all government unions and just like private industry cut the Fed workforce by 20%. Stop giving people these unbelievable retirements with our money. Those that are left need to learn how to work like anyone who works for private industry or be let go. Something like 1 in 3000 government workers is ever fired. I just don’t believe they are all so good as my experience with them says “NOT”.

They also need to get out of our everyday lives. I can think for myself thank you. We don’t need thousands of new laws every year. So many that no one could ever comply with them all.

We need congress to start overseeing unaccountable bureaucrats and approving all their edicts or not. They were not elected and should not be making laws. If there are so many of them that this is not possible then start eliminating them till they can. I want someone that we can all hold accountable.

Congress needs to stop trying to make everything (in their opinion) fair. It always has the opposite effect with it’s unintended consequences. The Housing Bubble is their fault. The current fiscal crisis is their fault and so on and so on. Anyone who pays attention can’t help but come to this conclusion. You need only go back to Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd to see what they said and did. They were warned over and over about what would happen and they ignored it. Now see what we got.

Your article only says that people are sheep and they have no self control so you want to fix it for them. It was others who tried to fix it that taught them the behavior they now exhibit. They need to stop looking for the government to save them and fix it themselves. It won’t be easy but they can do it and we will all be better off in the long run. If you have your way we will all suffer the consequences and then they will have to do it anyway as there will no one left to help.

And no I am not rich. I live on a fixed income that isn’t much but if I so decide I could still make myself rich with hard work if the government will just stay out of my way. Never was rich but I have enjoyed the freedom that my country has provided me for the last 64 years and want that for my children as well. Now you want to take that away too. GTH

By: giatny

giatny — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:51:08 +0000

Yet more flowering rhetoric to disguise the fact
that people were irresponsibly spending twice
what they earned. Free flowing credit and
misguided government policies enabled the orgy.
It could NOT have happened without both regardless
of what the 99% might have wanted to consume.
Sadly, the government is now promoting the premise
that everyone is “entitled” to have equal results.
To see how government dependence works when it
controls cradle to grave support, just study how
well it has worked out for the Indians. Motivation, personal responsibility and risk related to rewards are necessary for prosperity. It’s past time for the
whining and blaming others to stop.

By: GMavros

GMavros — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 14:48:27 +0000

Otherwise known as “Keeping up with the Joneses ” which in most cases forces people into spending money that they don’t have. A true, but trivial contribution in helping with today’s economic disaster.

By: Aractines

Aractines — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 10:32:15 +0000

Oh! You really need to have a Ph.D. for this? Hasn’t this been called “Keeping up with the Jones’s since the Ozzie and Harriet days?

By: PapaDisco

PapaDisco — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 08:43:21 +0000

Home square footage also increased in periods of oversupply. It was the builders’ strategy to avoid lower selling prices in those periods, since it was cheaper for them to offer a bigger house than to scale back their operations.

By: ewilc773

ewilc773 — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 04:48:18 +0000

I used to pat myself on the back for not envying the rich. After reading this article, I’ve realized that my envy problem is a lot closer to home than I was previously willing to admit.