"SPEND MORE STUPID"

I’m not an economist nor do I follow economic trends closely. I would say I have an average understanding of the North American economic system. However, listening to National Radio the other day I found myself baffled by the current economic message.




Spend, Spend, Spend!!!

Spend more is the message we are getting. The best way out of this recession is for consumer confidence to return and for us collectively to spend more…..

“We’ll Spend Our Way Out of Recession” Business News

I’m reminded of a scene from the Simpsons when Homer and Chief Wiggum literally dig a hole in the ground to deep to climb out. Homer’s solution is “were going to have to dig our way out” and as they start franticly digging Wiggum says “no, no, dig up stupid”.

I mean are we really going to swallow this. Does anyone else see a fundamental issue with spending our way out of a recession? Now before you point out the obvious I want to be clear that I understand the basics. I understand that spending more means businesses will have less suffering to pass on to their employees. I understand that the rate at which money moves around the economic “buy – sell” system is directly related to the economy’s health. But are we not missing the point when we say spend more and everything will go back to normal.

Do we really want it to go back to normal?

In North America every dollar I earn is hunted by a relentless army of “must have” products. My life is full of junk I don’t need. I spend my time organizing it, finding it and moving up the property ladder to accommodate it all. Seriously I am surrounded by junk I don’t need and the logistics of managing this empire consumes most of my time.

Why not use the current economic downturn to take a look at how you spend your time and money and evaluate what is really contributing to your life positively.
As I listened to the national radio call in show I heard person after person call in with their stories of hardship.

“I’m a teacher but since my husband lost his job we are having real trouble keeping up, we have burnt through our savings and I just don’t know what we’re going to do”??

Where is this woman living that she can’t survive on a teacher’s salary? I felt like reaching through the radio and shaking this woman.

Here’s a solution for you lady, how about spending less!!!!!!!!!!!!

One income for a family used to be enough. Certainly the income of a teacher was enough to raise a family on.

According to stats Canada the average teacher’s salary in 1981 in Ontario was $28,983and it costs $320 a month to feed a family of four (two parents and 2 kids) that means that over a year the cost of food represented 13.2% of a teacher’s income. In 2008 the average teacher’s salary in Ontario was $58,467 and it costs $600/month to feed a family of four which represents 12.3% of a teacher’s annual salary.

When I hear that a family can’t survive on one parent’s income in today’s world I really have to wonder if that is true or if society’s definition of “survive” has simply changed.