Quote:
Originally Posted by dogzilla
I can cover my expenses for more than 6 months. If the average person made it a goal to put savings aside instead of spending their income and then possibly maxing out their credit buying stuff they wanted, possibly. It may mean not living the lifestyle you like. You might end up with roommates, etc.
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Okay, so you more or less take an anticonsumerist stance. How do you think this will affect the economy in the long run? I mean, you are basically advocating a drastically reduced economic activity, a kind of activity that is responsible for generating a bulk of the wealth in the United States. The demand shift would result in fewer imports, but it would also result in lowered domestic demand for goods. This also means lower tax revenue.
At this point in time, it would hobble the recovery. Actually, that's kind of what's going on right now, since people are reeling from their debt and high unemployment. Unemployment remains high largely because of suppressed spending.
Would you support regulations restricting the kind and amount of credit issued to borrowers based on income and other factors?
Maybe the crisis was more than just a mortgage bubble, maybe it was a consumerist bubble in general, where the economic strength of America was built too much on credit. What this means is that Americans seem more well off than they actually are, and this includes the middle class to a large extent. I think perhaps we're going to see a correction in the American economy where the GDP growth over the next decade will be dwarfed not just by BRIC but by much of the developed world too.
I think overall the quality of life in America is going to either stagnate or drop on average. Too much of the comfortable American lifestyle that everyone covets has been accomplished by artificial means, and now it's time to pay up. I guess these things are best left to the rich.