ord sunshine pumpers

As I questioned earlier this week, there’s a catch to the 3.5% GDP growth:  consumers aren’t spending.  Personally, I don’t think this is entirely bad.  Americans are overextended and their personal wealth is pretty pathetic when compared to other industrialized nations.  I think a change in behavior, modeled after Nebraskan fiscal conservatism, is a good thing.  America could use a dose of Nebraskan medicine.  The challenge will be measuring economic output and relative strength that isn’t directly connected to a consumer culture.  Right now the American economy is driven by consumer spending – 70% of the GDP is because of consumer spending.  Let me ask this – if the spender, the average American, is up to their neck in debt, why is that a good thing as part of the GDP?

There is a reason this economic downtown is more fundamental than we’re letting on.  It’s a correction of bad behavior, something long overdue.  Personally, we gotta get out of our head this idea that collecting a large horde of stuff is a good thing…