Re: [Pen-l] John Judis in the New Republic on Obama's choice for the CEA

["Jim Devine" <jdevine03@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dan Zale wrote:
> A decline in consumpion would be a good thing for the environment given the amount of resources the US uses. <

We should be careful. I've noticed that rich people sometimes use the
term "reducing consumption" as code for "cutting wages" (getting rid
of unions, OSHA, etc.) This is ironic, because it's the rich who are
much more likely to discover that "money does not buy happiness."
Also, it's been stagnant wages that have been a central force behind
the growing indebtedness of the average US consumer. The asset value
of housing helped the average Joe and Joeline to keep consumption
standards up during the late housing bubble (via home equity loans,
etc.), but the reason why a lot of people reached for that life line
is because of stagnant wages.

(The value of stocks on the market have been mostly important to the
very rich, who own the lion's share of stocks.)
-- 
Jim Devine /  "Nobody told me there'd be days like these / Strange
days indeed -- most peculiar, mama." -- JL.
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