Boy, the signs and portents of our economic spasms are strong in today’s lunchtime perusal of the news:
- From the “Feeling Remorseful” Department: Remember how, in the “good ol’ days”, one might get buyers remorse after a big purchase. Nowadays, in these frugal times, there are increasing reports of “saver’s remorse”. Yup. People are feeling remorse that they didn’t have enough fun, that they just put away their money and kept working. In fact, the psychologists (who are right up there with the cultural anthropologists) have invented a term for it: hyperopia, the medical term for farsightedness and the opposite of myopia, nearsightedness, because it’s the result of people looking too far ahead. In other words: People are so obsessed with preparing for the future that they can’t enjoy the present, and they end up looking back sadly on all their lost opportunities for fun. Have you experienced “Saver’s Remorse”?
- From the “A Smart Choice?”: The economy, combined with the decrease in fuel prices, has created a large number of orphans. No, I’m not talking about children of parents who face forclosure, but of orphaned Smart cars. It appears an increasing number of people are cancelling orders for the two-seater tiny cars, opting instead for less-expenses sedans that get almost as good fuel milage.
- From the “Not Mailing It In” Department: The economy has also resulted in postal service cutbacks. But one cut back that they’ve been more silent about is the removal of more and more of the public mailboxes. In recent weeks, one-quarter of the 3,700 collection boxes in the Los Angeles area have been removed; this purging is part of a nationwide reduction prompted by government cutbacks and the shift to online bill-paying and e-mailing. I know I haven’t used a corner mailbox in ages.
- From the “Waist Not, Want Not” Department: Some businesses are growing in this economy. The New York Times is reporting a growth in the amount of candy sold: It seems that people find sweets comforting in bad economic times… especially cheap ones (there’s not equivalent growth in the luxury chocolate market). Another growth market (no puns intended) is adult entertainment. According to the AP, it appears that more job seekers have abandoned “dress for success”, i.e., the job market is prompting a growing number of women across the country to dance in strip clubs, appear in adult movies or pose for magazines like Hustler. However, some industries are in a clear decline: the number of home remodeling projects have declined as there is less HELOC money and fewer people are moving into new homes (it appears moving tends to trigger remodels).
- From the “East vs. West” Department: Whereas the West bails out companies like AIG, that deal with nested corporations, the East is dealing with problems of their own. The Russian economy is so bad that the Russian government will spend up to $28.4 million for the Kremlin and state agencies to purchase large quantities of nesting dolls and Russian hand-painted dishes to give as gifts. I wonder if there are bonuses involved?
