What is going to happen when the consumer can't spend anymore?

[Mountainman]

Even if there is an economic recovery for business, there is still the fact that it is a jobless recovery, and many people are on the fast track to bankruptcy because of the consumer debt and second and third mortgages.

I think that there is a point where lack of consumer spending in this country coupled with the trend toward the Euro as the world currency we are going to hit a brick wall. Only government intervention will be able to do anything about it. If it is still an all-Republican government I predict riots and revolution.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. I am interested in the response to this as well.

I have had this conversation off the board with another Du'er many times.

[mhr]

2. Depression, Depression, Depression!

Pretty simple to predict and understand!

[frank frankly]

3. It is the question, mountainman

I know I have reduced every expense and continue to do so...and I was pretty damn simple to start with! I literally cannot imagine what most people will do when the final consequences hit.

I just hope all of the Dittoheads and Hatriotic Consumers can work three jobs! Especially since most of America seems to be morbidly obese and untrained for technical labor, save driving a leased SUV and blathering on a leased cell phone.

I am glad I know how to cut fish, dig ditches, and a variety of other jobs. I am glad to have always been part of the minority community and learned how to "read" the news and act accordingly. Keep it simple, keep it real.

I just wish I had some land and a farm.

[frank frankly]

4. Maybe we will stop calling ourselves CONSUMERS then

it seems we are a few decades into The Age of Consequences.

Disposable culture is a finite game. To buy new things every year, clockwork-wise, just as a response, is absolutely insane.

If I could wish for one thing, it would be to live like the Hopi or Navaho.

Before the invasion.

Hell, or after.

[sandnsea]

11. And taxpayers

Gawd I hate that. We're people.

And I agree with you about the disposable consuming culture. It's completely impossible to sustain, especially globally. Not to mention just a horrible culture.

[Melsky]

5. I think about this a lot

I can't imagine what these big companies are thinking. Once enough jobs are gone, I think there will be a big crash. Plus, a lot of people have borrowed heavily on their homes and will lose them. Perhaps they really do want to make us into a third world country, with rich corporate land owners and peasants working for a pittance.

[TreasonousBastard]

6. It scares the crap out of me.

Economies are demand driven, and no amount of supply-side or trickle-down bullshit will change that.

If you end up buying less gas, it's not just Exxon who hurts, it's also the guy who owns the gas station, the people who drive the supply trucks, and everyone else in the chain. The only upside is that you may pay the gas station some more money for repairs because you're keeping your old car at lot longer.

You cut your cable and broadband connections to save money. People work for these companies, and more jobs are cut to bail out the stockholders. Camera operators, set designers, press aides, cable installers, and countless others are walking the streets when cable channels don't buy new product or just fold.

It goes on and on.

Most of the heavy economic activity is B to B. Chemicals, machine tools, business services... But, nobody's buying rolled steel, advertising, or injection molding equipment unless they think they have customers down the road.

And, the ultimate customer is us.

[jonoboy]

7. we're going to eat the rich

[SammyWinstonJack]

17. ROFL

Bet they taste bad and are hard to chew. :evilgrin:

[incapsulated]

8. Deeper and deeper into debt...

That's where a great number of Americans are getting their "spending money" to begin with.

I guess they can send us all to Australia or something.

[SahaleArm]

9. *NM*

*NM*

[SoCalDem]

10. The bubble will burst, and sooner than they think..

People are propping up the economy with little thins slabs of PLASTIC..

I use my ATM, but when I do go out, I notice that most people use credit cards..even for the most mundane things.. Last week I took my friend to lunch and while we were waiting to pay, I saw a well dressed man have his card REFUSED for a $10.00 lunch tab.. He finally had the THIRD one approved..

I am treasurer for a large bowling league, and you would be amazed at the number of bounced $17.00 checks..and these are people who drive brand new SUVs and other spiffy cars..

People are creatures of habit , and are easily influenced bu advertising.. they have confused "need" with "want".. When my boys were little they would always say.."Mom, I NEED....." The stock answer was.."No.. you NEED air, water, shelter, food"..You WANT $125.00 shoes".. there IS a difference"..

Credit card companies are complicit in the impending downfall. There is not a day that passes, that I don't get a "check" for $6000.00 plus or a balance transfer for 1.9% for the life of the balance.. They WANT us to keep the plates spinning, but sooner or later, it will not keep working.. People will get scared for their jobs, or they can no longer afford their health insurance and they will get sick.....

Kids are learning the hard way that graduating college with $40,000.00 in debt, and finding that first job that pays $20,000.00 is no way to "get ahead"..

We are all the victims of a corporate ponzi scheme, and sooner or later they always collapse.. The time is just about right..

Corporate bigshots have stolen our 401-k and pension plans
WallStreet Thieves have stolen our mutual funds..
Banks set higher and higher fees and pay out lower and lower interest
Insurance companies ,"pre-existing condition" the affordability of medical insurance
Pharmaceutical companies advertise "the good life" , but price the medications so that most people cannot afford them
Companies see no harm in having workers displaced by $10 a day people in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh..
Fatcats get tax breaks and middle class and poor people lose services they desperately need, because the states are hurting for money..
....

There was a time when people bought things because they would last a long time, and were repairable.. Yes, kids.. people used to have toasters, radios, tvs, irons, clocks , etc FIXED..

The technological advances brought with them the IMPOSSIBILITY of fixing the items for less money that it costs to buy a new one.(in the case of smaller items)..

The glut of THINGS is dragging us all down the drain, and destroying our environment at the same time..

I would rather know that there are orangutans soomewhere in the forest, just doing their thing, than to have cheap disposable plywood..

[Myra]

12. Wow SoCalDem

That was some fine prose.

[SoCalDem]

14. Thanks..

:)

[Karenina]

13. APPLAUSE!!!

:bounce: :loveya: :bounce:

[jiacinto]

15. Watch interest rates

If they rise then we will have problems. People have been able to stay afloat because of low interest rates.

[sangh0]

16. Then they will make you work

for cheese!!