I just read an Op-Ed in the New York Times on-line that used this expression - Mental Recession. This is so descriptive! It captures how I feel about what is going on in the economic world today. Of course there are real signs of a recession everywhere - falling house prices, rising unemployment, particularly for elephant organizations like the US car makers, dried up credit markets (I wonder if all those credit card offers have stopped clogging US mailboxes back in the States?), etc. But the real problem is how people FEEL. Because if people feel insecure, they stop doing things that naturally keep the economy going, defined today as buying stuff. Every time some newspaper or blaring 24 hour news channel trumpets another round of doom-sayer speculation, more people hunker down in their homes and hold on to their pennies. My oldest daughter recounted to me last week how when Washington Mutual failed and was taken over by JP Morgan a few weeks ago, she and daughter #2 considered rushing to their local branch to quickly withdraw their combined deposits of $200 - to save it "just in case" under their mattresses. Such thinking is not good when multiplied by 300 million or so.
I explained to them that for news channels - no bad news is bad news - for THEIR business at least. Never mind how the rest of the world collapses under the weight of depression and the pharmacies run dangerously low on Prozac supplies. The news media continues to spread doom and gloom because it apparently sells advertising space. How's that for cynicism?
But think about it for a moment - what's so bad about slowing down mindless consumption? It is commonly acknowledged to not bring true happiness or satisfaction anyway. Now this doesn't mean that there isn't still some things seriously wrong with our financial system. But as the article in the NY Times went on to say - the worldwide economy needs time to reset to a new level. For me, this could mean that the health of our economy can lower its dependence on the number of shoppers at the malls buying more stuff to fill over-sized houses with, to maintain its vigor.
Gee - what could we do with our time instead? That is a big question and one that needs to also help cure our economic woes too. But as is generally acknowledged, the human brain has a vast capacity to adapt and create - and the entrepreneurial climate in the US is one of the best stages on which to foster this creativity to bring about the next big thing - or things.
France, as I suspect much of Europe, does not rely so much on shopping for entertainment and therefor economic health (I could be wrong, this is just a personal observation). England being the exception judging from what I read in the London Times on-line (plenty of shoppers and spenders up there). Ironically - the rest of the world seems to rely on the Americans and their spending habits to maintain the world's fiscal health. While US shoppers are clogging parking lots on the weekend, we in Paris are eating with friends and family and going for walks. There is lots more time available for leisure activities if you stay out of the stores.
I can hear the economists now - But that is not good for the economy!
Then we are just going to need to change a few things - starting with our mental recession. Didn't somebody once say -Its not a problem, its an opportunity.
Comments