{"id":706,"date":"2010-03-21T14:01:11","date_gmt":"2010-03-21T14:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shekharkapur.com\/newblog\/?p=706"},"modified":"2010-04-20T02:53:21","modified_gmt":"2010-04-19T21:23:21","slug":"the-economics-of-consumerism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shekharkapur.com\/blog\/2010\/03\/the-economics-of-consumerism\/","title":{"rendered":"The economics of consumerism"},"content":{"rendered":"

I always wondered the logic of President Obama’s economic stimulus package. It was based on restoring confidence. And confidence (whether Obama meant that or not) is measured by the people consuming more. Every Christmas, for example, the economy is measured by the amount people spend in stores. And this is becoming a measure of economic resurgence all over the world, In India for example, the increasing number of automobiles sold is touted as measure of an economy that is surging ahead.
\nBut isn’t excessive consumerism the one basic problem facing the planet ? And the fundamental problem with the US economy is also that it’s model has to be driven by increasing consumerism (aside from trade in military hardware) that cannot be accelerated beyond a certain point ? How then can ‘consumer confidence’ be a measure or a long term solution of the fundamental problems facing us. How does it help that China and the US have become co- dependant on each other, fundamentally doing the same things. Driving each others consumerism
\nPlease, it you have not already, watch this video :
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