World's Designated Shoppers Drop

How much lower can consumer spending go? The malls are like mausoleums, retail clerks are getting laid off, and AOL recently featured on its welcome page the story of man so cheap that he recycles his dental floss -- hanging it from a nail in his garage until it dries out.

It could go a lot lower of course. This guy could start saving the little morsels he flosses out and boil them up to augment the children's breakfast gruel. Already, as the recession or whatever it is closes in, people have stopped buying homes and cars and cut way back on restaurant meals. They don't have the money; they don't have the credit; and increasingly they're finding that no one wants their money anyway. NPR reported on February 28 that more and more Manhattan stores are accepting Euros and at least one has gone Euros-only.

The Sharper Image has declared bankruptcy and is closing 96 U.S. stores. (To think I missed my chance to buy those headphones that treat you to forest sounds while massaging your temples!) Victoria's Secret is so desperate that it's adding fabric to its undergarments. Starbucks had no sooner taken time off to teach its baristas how to make coffee than it started laying them off.

While Americans search for interview outfits in consignment stores and switch from Whole Foods to Wal-Mart for sustenance, the world watches tremulously. The Australian Courier-Mail, for example, warns of an economic "pandemic" if Americans cut back any further, since we are responsible for $9 trillion a year in spending, compared to a puny $1 trillion for the one billion-strong Chinese. Yes, we have been the world's designated shoppers, and, if we fall down on the job, we take the global economy with us.

"Shop till you drop," was our motto, by which we didn't mean to say we were more compassion-worthy than a woman fainting at her work station in some Honduran sweatshop. It was just our proper role in the scheme of things. Some people make stuff; other people have to buy it. And when we gave up making stuff, starting in the 1980s, we were left with the unique role of buying. Remember Bush telling us, shortly after 9/11, to get out there and shop? It may have seemed ludicrous at the time, but what he meant was get back to work.

We took pride in our role in the global economy. No doubt it takes some skill to make things, but what about all the craft that goes into buying them -- finding a convenient parking space at the mall, navigating our way through department stores laid out for maximum consumer confusion, determining which of our credit cards still has a smidgeon of credit in it? Not everyone could do this, especially not people whose only experience was stitching, assembling, wiring, and packaging the stuff that we bought.

But if we thought we were special, they thought we were marks. They could make anything, and we would dutifully buy it. I once found, in a party store, a baseball cap with a plastic turd affixed to its top and the words "shit head" on the visor. The label said "made in the Philippines" and the makers must have been convulsed as they made it. If those dumb Yanks will buy this...

There's talk already of emergency measures, like making Christmas a weekly holiday, although this would require a level of deforestation that could leave Cheney with no quail to hunt.

More likely, there'll be a move to outsource shopping, just as we've already outsourced manufacturing, customer service, X-ray reading, and R & D. But to whom? The Indians are clever enough, but right now they only account for $600 million in consumer spending a year. And could they really be trusted to put a flat screen TV in every child's room, distinguish Guess jeans from a knock-off, and replace their kitchen counters on an annual basis?

And what happens to us, the world's erstwhile shoppers? The president recently observed, in one of his more sentient moments, that unemployment is "painful." But if a pink slip hurts, what about a letter from Citicard announcing that you've been laid off as a shopper? Will we fill our vacant hours twisting recycled dental floss onto spools or will we decide that, if we can't shop, we're going to have to shoplift?

Because we've shopped till we dropped alright, face down on the floor.

Comments

[terril]

Excellent and funny article. The unfortunate truth is that now that Americans are finally starting to wisen up, it's only because they are forced to, and thereby exarcebating the crisis. It seems that certain lessons can only be learned the hard way, and even then, the history of Great Depression (which wasn't all that long ago) still didn't stop us from overextending ourselves (or ignoring workers, the poor) decades later. One can only hope that this will be the beginning of a more permanent transformation.

[dawlishgal]

People really ought to patronize thrift shops. There are several outlet malls near us, and they give their unsold merchandise to the thrift shops (I suppose for the tax deductions). I haven't bought any new outerwear since we moved here. Why should I when one can get a brand new silk blouse for the price of a hamburger and french fries or a stylish brand new trench coat for the price of a magazine?

We have never had a very extravagent life style, but there are a few things we spend a lot on, travel being at the top of that list. The decline in the dollar has really hit us hard. We haven't had a new car since 1970, when we bought a Saab for $3,500!. We were in graduate school at the time, each working half time, and we could afford the new car, two babies, to buy two modest houses, and to pay tuition at an excellent state university and not incur any student loans. We haven't been able to afford a new Saab since. that first one went belly up ten years later. We were frugal when it mattered. But kids today can't live that way...that life style is simply unavailable to them.

The economy has switched so much since then that one has to wonder what has happened to the fruits of all of the productivity added by women going into the work force. But one doesn't have to wonder for long-- just take a good hard look at the income distributions. Some people can afford to patronize $5,000 an hour prostitutes, and some can't even afford to rent an apartment. I feel sorry for young people now...no matter how hard they work and how ambitious they are, the cards seem so much stacked against them.

[Crowhaul]

Great posting, Barbara. I adopted my minimalist lifestyle about 3 years ago in partial response to Bush's entreaty that we shop. And it feels wonderful.

Here's how it works:
A) Never buy anything with a credit card. If you don't have the money don't buy it.
B) Get rid of any car you 'own' that requires monthly payments.
C) Buy clothes generally once a year, usually just the basics.
D) Permanently end all fast-food purchases (and yes, this includes Starbucks).
E) Forsake all 'ready-made' corporate food (buy the ingedients & make it yourself!)
F) Bake your own bread (it's easy, tastes a lot better, and who wants to ingest preservatives anyway). G) Go veggie so as to not contribute to the 24/7 nightmare of the corporate slaughterhouses.

There's a lot more to it...but those are the starters..­.

[Sundialsvc4]

"Rosie the Riveter, line one please. Rosie the Riveter, line one."

"As soon as Uncle Sam returns, please advise him that he is urgently needed in Conference Room Three."

"Put out an advertisement, please, that there is a world's worth of opportunity right here, just waiting to be re-started. Make sure to mention that the country still knows how."

As Ike Eisenhower warned us, the military industrial machine is a consuming cancer, determined to divert every scrap of national muscle to itself and to make endless heaps of excuses for the "necessity" of doing so. As we have seen, nothing, not even the City of New Orleans, has been deemed "important" enough to cause these businessmen in the highest elected offices in our land to turn to the slightest degree away from what they see to be an unfathomab­ly-lucrati­ve business plan.

But the United States of America that demolished its opponents in World War II is still there, slumbering.

The nation that knew exactly what "waterboarding" was, and who even executed Japanese officers for the war-crime of engaging in it "as a matter of obvious principle," is still there too.

The only lie that we absolutely cannot afford to believe, besides the one that says these lies are truth, is the lie that this state-of-affairs is necessary, inevitable, or prudent.

[January]

What we've lost, apparently, is our sense of humor. Ehrenreich's outrageous expose of the climate in which we Americans live is hilarious--if you can keep from crying.

My middle-aged son believes America's credit is unlimited. The comment upthread about how we keep the emerging economies of China and India (add in the rest of developing Southeast Asia) going needs to read today's post by Ebenhaus on how emerging economies are learning to sell to each other. It is not clear how well they can get along without us, but they are working on it.

"Things change" says the Dali Lama. You better believe it--just kidding, right?

[MilwaukeeDan]

Barbara, good post. You know the economy is slowing when people start cutting back on things they really don't need. I'm not a coffee drinker, and I don't understand spending $3.00(?) for a cup at Starbucks. My wife looks great naked(no, I'm not sending pictures), so she doesn't need $20.00(?) Victoria Secret underwear to excite me. During the booming(not so much in the rust belt) 1990s, many businesses sprung up to cater to the excesses of Americans. Now as the economy heads south, the majority of those businesses will also.

[noam4prez]

Look at it this way. This could be the beginning of a massive consumer strike. People are not just tapped out. They are pissed off. We have been manipulated, lied-to and ripped-off for so long that even the Ambien-dropping sleep-walking consumers among us are waking up.

Just don't buy anything (meaning "durable" goods like cars, houses, furniture, electronics, etc) until the capitalist pigs start to squeal. That's what happened in the great depression. Finally, FDR (one of the fat cats) had to devise a compromise that empowered workers. The pigs have been working hard to reverse those concessions (successfully) ever since. We are now pretty much back where we were before FDR.

[tommy slothrop]

I've done this for decades. It hasn't worked ... yet.

[irishgawdess]

"If those dumb Yanks will buy this..."

Check out the documentary "Mardi Gras: Made in China" about Chinese factory workers who make the beads thrown to women at Mardi Gras just for baring their breasts. In the movie, we get to see capitalism at work in China and how these workers are treated by the owner of the company (14+ hour work days, room and board deducted from paychecks to live in crowded four person rooms on site, outdoor sinks to do washing, etc.) The young women just can't figure out why Americans would want "these cheap, stupid beads."

Pan to the drunken revelry of Mardi Gras...

Sure the Mardi Gras is lots of fun but once you see the contrast between the usage of the beads and the system in which the beads are manufactured, you'll understand what the Chinese workers meant. The freakin' beads cost pennies to make. Americans place such a high value on them for the night of Mardi Gras, and the next day they are lying all over the streets.

How oblivious can we be?

Watch a two and a half minute review here: http://www.filmbaby.com/films/1941

[fisharefreinds]

Is there a relationship between the dislocation of community, the wholesale abandonment of connections and the constant need "to fill," to shop, in its place? Clearly with or without jobs Americans have sustained the world economy since the roaring 90's. We have also become more and more individually isolated, relying on entertainment centers and artificial intelligence. We are being implored to embrace this "future" with gusto and I was just wondering what happens when people feel unable to connect in meaningful ways to community and the political world reality? I am not talking about religion as connection but human experience. Just wondering if our computers are really that wonderful?!

[WandaBooneshaft]

You just dissed computers ... by writing a comment on a computer after reading a post on your computer ...

[Rockyman]

Materialism and the transcient joy it may give have been indoctrinated into the American pysche for so long that this notion has been incorporated into our everyday lives. For many the acquisition of an item gives a sense of aliveness.­..."I now own this...thi­s is mine...the­refore I am". It is all pretty bizarre! Maybe now Americans will find other means--probably planet friendlier-- to get the sense of aliveness we seem to need.

[Vanska]

About 4 years ago my husband and I sold about 75% of our 'stuff' and moved out of the country. Its hard to explain how freeing it was. We saved family heirlooms etc in storage for a few years - just the stuff that we couldnt replace easily. The kids couldnt care less and we were liberated by not having a bunch of crap to look after. People need to let go of thier 'things' fettish. We since came back to get the kids into college and I still dont miss our old 'stuff'. Let it go people!

[Desiderata]

On the mantel above the fireplace rests the Pet Rock I bought somewhere in the 70s. It is the only possession I have that is completely paid off.

So, I own it. And I intend to keep it.

[jinjinpinti]

We need to return to the olden times when people stayed home and only went shopping when they really needed something. People need to understand that the "stuff" they constantly crave and pursue will never provide lasting happiness, but only a brief respite from their craving until the next purchase comes to mind. Stop buying things you can't afford to impress people you don't even like.

[WandaBooneshaft]

What about those of us that already are doing just that? If I don't need it, I don't buy it. Problem is, the things that I have to buy -- like FOOD (and gas) -- is so expensive, I've cut back on that too. Simple "pleasures" like soda? Nope. Not at $4.69 a 12 pack. Now I buy teabags and brew.

I don't think I'll be recycling dental floss though. Rather disgusting. However, it might make a great toy for the cats.

[dawlishgal]

NO, don't leave dental floss, used or not, around cats. The cats could swallow it...happe­ned to a friend's cat and the vet couldn't save it.

[ERose]

So right, again, Barbara. I've been thinking all along as I witnessed the slow slide into insolvency, and the blatant contempt to which the American consumer is treated by Madison Ave., merchandisers, and credit hawkers...­.they NEED us, so why are they taking away our jobs? Eliminating our means of making a living and buying all that crap on credit. I live simply; if it ain't broke I do not replace it. Yeah, shabby but clean was a little embarrassing during the "why wait buy it now you've got to have it" frenzy of the past 20 years...bu­t their are a lot of people in this boat now and it is sinking.

I'm basically debt free, but I'm not so sure I am any better off than the folks who have 10's of thousands racked up in debt. All of us will have trouble paying our mortgage, or rent (if we can pass the credit check needed to rent a holding pen of an apartment, after the bank takes our house and life savings from us). We'll still be struggling to pay our escalating utility bills.... or filling our tanks with gas, so we can get to whatever crappy job we're lucky enough to have. And any retailers looking for their slice of the pie should talk to big oil, they've got that slice. Heck, the franchises and big box stores can go belly up...they'­re main many fortunes for their shareholdes and CEO's, and can just close their doors. It's the workers and communities who will suffer. I only hope that there will finally be an understanding of what has been done to us, how our government (we the people my ass) has sold us down river.

And, big picture...­we can cut back on gas, but big oil can sell it to China's rapidly mulitplying, thirsty for crude population. But wait....if we're not able to buy the goods from China, made by the folks who took our jobs, and those Chinese (or Indian, or...) people are laid off from those jobs, then they can't afford the gas either.

The world economy is swirling in the bowl, and I think we're gonna need a whole new set of industries to turn it around. Too many of the few jobs we have now are functionally obsolete. the future is in earth friendly green, sustainable, energy efficient.­...a new path that can save us, but will require a good deal of thinking outside the box (and the "rules"). And the old ruling establishment is not going to assist in that change. I for one would be happy if they would just change the zoning so I could keep a milk cow and chickens next to my organic garden. aaahhahhaahhhaaaa.

[jdm58]

Meanwhile, the Fed keeps cutting back on the interest rates these card companies and banks charge EACH OTHER, yet THEY keep raising the interest rates they charge US. If banks, lenders, and stores
want people to go back to the mall, they're going to need to do some "bottom up" overhaul. Charging us more for credit that they are paying less for, is downright upside down. Perhaps the bank presidents WIVES need to go to the mall more often, since they seem to be the ones making all the dough.

[ch4r1iegr1]

I'm not switching from Whole Foods to Wal-Mart. I'm switching from Whole Foods to growing my own garden. But if I had any fake money left, I'd shop at Whole Foods occasionally. I like shopping where I know the guy bagging my groceries is making a living wage... not where the clerk ringing me up has to get taxpayer funded public assistance to make up for the fact that I want cheap sterolite tubs, cheap slave-made clothes and really cheap processed factory-farmed "food" products.