[quote=Arraya]
An article just came out saying that 2/3rd of all Americans don’t have $1000 dollars incase of an emergency. I bet you could put another 15 % on top of that with no significant savings. That is a social disaster waiting to happen regardless of fault.

Lets say, for the sake of argument, a portion of these people are “over consuming” – have high debt loads and no savings because of this. What happens to employment(in a 70% consumption based economy) if that consumption goes away? Those “unhealthy” patterns of behavior might be saving a lot of jobs!

So, it appears, that “over consumption” and the anxiety that drives it serves a purpose? Are these people being irresponsible or doing what society asks of them?

Another interesting set of data came out. It said 75% of the people think the economy is headed in the wrong direction. While, at the same time, consumer spending was going up, markedly. What does this tell us? It’s either that people, knowing the economy is going into the toilet are trying to help out OR depressed people shop more!

It’s like a big debt-anxiety-consumption driven treadmill that is about to fly off the tracks.[/quote]

I wonder if the increased consumption is due to two subconscious thought patterns
* people realizing in their gut that there is no return on savings/investment in the current climate, so why save when that new item can be used/consumed right now.
* people realize that the economy is bad and unemployment is high.. but there is denial it could happen to them… they feel that their jobs are secure/immune…