How can we have an economy based on the consumption of good...

[WCGreen]

When people aren't making enough money to buy anything but the necessities?

A service based economy isn't the answer because you aren't adding value to anything tangible.

The US economy from the 40's through the 80's was geared toward production and consumption.

You can't have a viable economy with out those two in some kind of balance.

[Hannah Bell]

1. nor an economy where the only way to keep people employed a/o alive is to produce & consume more &

more.

but such is the diktat of consumer capitalism.

i still have a working flashlight made in the 50s or earlier. they don't make em like that anymore.

still a working lightbulb from the edison era, too.

if they made em like that, we wouldn't have to work much -- but capitalism couldn't expand very fast, either.

[Raksha]

18. My old microwave from the early 1980s just died after close to 30 years of service.

The electronics still work--with a new magnatron tube it would probably last another 30 years. I guess the manufacturer didn't get the memo about planned obsolescence....

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. That's a scary thought...

And since I know little about economics, I cannot even hazard an answer...

One thing I can do: Recommend.

[leftstreet]

3. We're a Self-Service Economy

Can't afford to hire anyone to paint your house, cut your grass, pull your tooth, teach your child, fill your potholes, or fix your pipes.

So you gotta do it yerself!

As for commerce, we'll soon be reduced to selling the contents of our garages to each other.

Yeah, Capitalism!

:puke:

[RandomThoughts]

4. It is really easy.

If production is over demand, then there should be no scarcity, if there is, then that is the demand.

If production is still over demand when basic needs are met, then you shorten the work weeks and work days, and wages would not have to go down, since extra production is not used anyways, so there is still the same ratio of goods to needs.


However neither of those move money to the top, nor do those systems race to the bottom as a society.

And neither of those keeps people worried, scared or working so hard that they can not see what is going on in society.



So some people don't like ways to implement those ideas.



Think about it, who really is helped by someone kicked out of a house in a foreclosure? How can there be people without homes, food, or even beer, when there is a pool of unemployed that want to work, and resources to build such things.

Because it helps society, it does not help those that some think should decide what is best for society based on profit motive.

[WCGreen]

6. Look at all the stuff that is advertised to give you a jolt so you can

keep on working...

All these energy boosts in the market place...

[reggie the dog]

11. yet the same system goes after people

taking a little speed pill or snorting a line.....

[Art_from_Ark]

5. I think the offshoring began in earnest in the '80s

It was part of Reagan's plan to "tame inflation"-- start importing massive amounts of stuff formerly made in the US, then get workers to start worrying about their jobs so they would be hesitant to ask for raises, or even be willing to take pay cuts. Fire air traffic controllers to further drive that point home.

[Sherman A1]

10. Precisely

That was the plan in a nutshell and it worked pretty well.

[hfojvt]

7. most people are still making enough money

to buy lots of non-necessities.

Why does tangible have anything to do with it? An economy geared toward production and consumption can easily be geared towards to consumption of services. In fact, the richer you get, generally, the more services you purchase. You hire a gardener. You eat out. You hire a maid. You pay for an oil change. You pay somebody else to do your taxes, etc.

[WCGreen]

8. The service transactions don't perculate through the economy as

does the production. There are more profit points along the way when dealing with tangable items so there is more value added along the way from extraction of resources to refining, reshaping, delivery to selling points and then of course the sale.

It's simplistic in view.

Service certainly has it's place but it can't, in my humble opinion, sustain a vibrant, growing middle class which is what is needed in order to have a growing and thriving mixed economy.

[JI7]

9. Service providers buy more when they get more customers also

everything helps.

[tama]

13. Money as debt

is very bad economy. Keeping in mind that the etymology of economy (oikonomia) means taking care of home.

[Enthusiast]

12. Excellent observation.

Even Henry Ford recognized that his employees had to be able to afford his product, otherwise he would have no market.

[WCGreen]

15. From what I understand, he was a bit of an ass hole....

But he knew how to make a market for his product...

[ProfessorPlum]

14. That's why Poppy Bush called it "voodoo economics"

in the primary against Reagan. See, at that point, he was still of the mindset that helping Americans was the goal of the GOP. Naive.

[kentuck]

16. Right on target, WC

[pampango]

17. All the developed economies are becoming more service oriented with fewer in manufacturing.

Our manufacturing output continues to increase, but the percentage of people employed in manufacturing declines. The same is true in Canada, Europe, Japan and Australia. They produce more, but with fewer people doing the work.

Of course, the big difference is that Canada, Europe, Japan, and Australia all have more progressive governments than we do, so the transition from a manufacturing to a service economy is not as traumatic for people in those countries.

[marmar]

19. We can't.....and it's the elephant in the room everyone pretends not to see.....

..... but knows is there.