The End is Coming!

Or so they want you to think. I keep reading all these doom and gloom type articles saying how the American "standard of living" is going to drop permanently. And?

Look, Americans have been living above their means for decades. The household savings ratio (what the average person made versus what they spent) was either below one or negative for most of my lifetime, and a good section of my parents as well. Negative means the same thing as when you see a negative balance in your checking account...you spent more than you had.

How bout the whole "America uses around 25% of the world's resources" statistic that I hear so often? I'm also hearing a lot of sound bites along the lines of "America is the world's consumer. If we stop consuming, China (or any other export country) has no one to sell to."

Seriously? We don't save, and have, as a country decided to actually deficit spend in our households. (The gov't deficit is a whole separate thread) We use and buy so much crap that we are the number one waster, polluter and consumer of natural resources, and whole sections of other country's economies are built around our need to buy buy buy! Heck, our own economy is based on it. Why else would everyone tell us to "Go Shopping" in order to strengthen the country?

Take a step back and it seems pretty clear that this is a trend that cannot and should not continue. We had a chance in the 80s and 90s to change our ways and be a bit more responsible. Now we are forced. Sure it hurts and its hard, but its also what had to happen. Its not the end of the world, its the beginning of a mature America.