The Conundrum of Consumer Spending

"What's good is bad, what's bad is good
You'll find out when you reach the top
You're on the bottom."
--Bob Dylan, Idiot Wind

The Wall Street Journal had a story this morning that began like this:

"Stocks edged lower Tuesday on worries about consumer spending, after Dick's Sporting Goods and Macy's reported weaker sales, sending their shares sharply lower."

It's a perfect illustration of the contradictions inherent in modern life. The other day I wrote about the massive self-storage industry that has been generated by consumerism. America's "I gotta have it" attitudes have morphed into "Where can I put it?" Eventually, we get to this point: "How do I get rid of it?"

And yet, if American's don't fulfill their duty and continue to be good consumers, businesses fail, people get laid off, and the economy weakens.

It seems like we put a lot of responsibility on consumers to keep the economy afloat. Naturally, the banks and financial institutions will continually remind you that the benefits of this or that new credit card can help solve your money problems. 

Haha. More debt is a solution? According to one recent source, "As of the second quarter of 2023, the total consumer debt in the United States is $17.06 trillion."

KEEP IN MIND that this does not include the U.S. government deficits. That's right, American's are on the hook to help pay that down, too. That is, if our legislators had the courage to tell us that we will all need to chip in and pay the bills our taxes are supposed to be used for to run the country. We're talking more than $30 trillion on that deal.

Hmmm. So we have mixed messages to consider. Be responsible vs. Spend like there's no tomorrow.

Good luck.