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Comment by toomanybeersies | Hacker News Reader

Is this actually a bad thing? Do we need consumers spending more and more money on things they don't need (and often don't even want, they just think they want it)?

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Consumerism is a cornerstone of economic growth. If there wasn't a demand for the various goods and services that we all produce our collective standard of living would be quite low. I agree that a balance should be struck and at our current pace we are turning our planet into a dumpster fire, but 'not spending' is political kryptonite - how are we going to deal with the people who will (inevitably) lose their jobs?

How do you make a living?

This is overall a good thing for the planet. By way of economics, it's bad for the people of UK (because they are producing less) and for exporters to the UK.

Depends who "we" are, really. A lot of us have jobs, retirement savings and so on that depend on the economy continuing the function in a manner broadly similar to the way it does today. Consumer spending is part of that.

Is growth is below inflation, then in real terms consumer spending has contracted which is generally a bad sign

Why are you the judge of what people want or don't want ?

He isn't the judge of anything. He's just asking a question.

I'm not the author of the parent comment, but for me, it's about sustainability. We are destroying our planet and perhaps our future ability to support a population as large as it is today in the name of capitalism / consumerism / increased growth. We view it as a failure when we don't hit growth targets, but we live on a planet with finite resources. Eventually something has to give.

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