Amateur economics

I have a theory about our economic woes: it’s cheap stuff causing all the problems. I’m no economist, and I’m about six months behind in my contact with the daily news, so don’t quote me. But my thought is that at least one factor in the decline of the economy can be attributed to a decline in quality. It’s all the fault of cheap plastic.  If appliances were still made of steel and toys were made of wood and wool, and clothes lasted more than a season, and furniture wasn’t glued together, maybe we wouldn’t be hearing about so many lay-offs because our economy would be built upon things that have value, instead of on products designed to be thrown away after a few uses.  If our products are disposable, then it isn’t hard to assume that our producers are disposable, also.  And a whole mountain of false wealth has been constructed on goods and services that are unnecessary and without worth.  So no wonder it has all collapsed. 

I know this theory is full of holes. If things were made better and lasted longer, they would cost more and would be produced more slowly. People wouldn’t be able to buy as much with their dollar. There wouldn’t be as much wealth.  Likewise, if small farms had remained the only source of our food, milk and vegetables would be much more expensive.  But maybe then people wouldn’t eat so much junk food.  Junk food might not even exist. Diabetes might disappear, along with a good amount of heart disease.

As it is, or was, people had too much money to spend. So with all the extra money left over from buying cheap stuff, it’s no wonder that over-consumption of food and goods has resulted in the failing health of the economy and of the person.  If people hadn’t been sold on the idea that everyone needs to own a car, that everyone can and should own the latest tv, multiple phones, the newest gadgets, a closet full of synthetic clothes and cheap shoes and big plastic bins full of more clothes and toys and shoes, and a house for that closet, etc, maybe the temptation to spend too much and loan too much would have been curtailed. 

So I’d like to blame this recession, not on Wall Street, but on Walmart.  In my ideal economy, Walmart wouldn’t exist. Maybe the Walmart workers could get jobs making high quality clothes and toys. The need for repairpeople would rise, too, because things would be worth getting fixed.

Maybe I’m just frustrated from my shopping experiences lately. Can you tell I’ve been wasting too much mental energy trying to figure out what to buy for Christmas? I wish my kids liked things that were well-made of high quality materials. But they prefer cheap stuff – which is the big problem with my theory.  People don’t want to pay a lot for stuff, myself included. I want good stuff for cheap prices, which I can only find at thrift stores. The problem I’m facing right now is that I can only find cheap stuff at high prices. You’d think that stuff made in China would cost less here, but I think a lot of it goes to the United States first, and then back here.

I’m trying to be a conscientious shopper, but I’m struggling with the shipping rates the high-quality places charge – fair prices I’m sure, but I just can’t justify spending an extra $50 on a doll toy that already costs $50 more than the plastic one.  So despite my good intentions, I’m contributing to the downfall of the American economy. 

And the truth is my kids are beginning to grow out of toys anyway. What the older boys want for Christmas is money to buy new i-gadgets that will be outdated by next year.  The middle son is begging for the latest Harry Potter Wii game. My older daughter wants clothes and shoes.  I still want to buy them wooden castle sets and soft baby dolls.  Instead, I’m frittering dollars away buying a little of this and a little of that.

At least, I’m contributing to thesupport of the theories of all those economists who say we need to spend to get out of debt…