[rollei_list] OT Maynard and Toasters - was Re: Re: OT: Vinyl and CD's
- From: Robert Lilley <54moggie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2009 14:56:13 -0500
Thor, et al
My take is the rise in consumables is a direct correlation to the
shift from Adam Smith to Maynard Keynes. Smith's nation's wealth is
measured by what a country has in the bank. Keynes's nation's wealth
is measured by it's gross national product. The problem is that
"Keyesian economics" thought up but never really tested during FDR's
reign requires an ever expanding market. It's the only way to keep up
the gross national product. If everybody runs out of money or only
buys things once then the gross national product slumps. Well, that
is unless you have a baby boom. A baby boom means more people to buy
stuff for and a rise in the national product. It seems all those
"last a life time" toasters were built during or before the baby boom
following WWII.
It is interesting to note that WWII forced people once again employed
after the depression to put their money in the bank. They didn't have
anything but war bonds to spend their money on. So in this case the
nations wealth was back in Adam Smith's bank for a while so to speak.
Keynesian economics didn't really start in force until the GI's came
home to procreate like rabbits and spend the money they saved up.
When we ran out of babies, we invented the credit card to keep things
moving along. Now that large amounts of babies and credit are gone, I
guess we can only look to government bail outs. After the government
runs out of printing ink I think perhaps we can get back to the good
old days of Adam Smith and some real money in the bank.
So my theory is consumerism = repeat buying practices + large amounts
of easy credit. Given the current economic crisis, I'd open up a
toaster repair shop right about now.
Rob
On Mar 5, 2009, at 12:10 PM, Thor Legvold wrote:
Perhaps that's a better way to explain the changes I've described. A
move towards viewing more and more of what we surround ourselves
with as consumables to be bought, used and discarded, and bought
again in newer 'improved' versions, to be thrown away again, & etc.
The lifetime of manufactured goods seems to have shrinked
drastically the last 50 years, in most (not all) cases.
Cheers,
Thor
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