So in other words the NYT is saying that Japanese consumers who don't spend like there is no tomorrow and do it all on credit like their North American brothers are one of the real reasons the world's economy is on the fast track to hell. What a crock. I like to shop and spend as much as the next person, but there comes a time when you just have enough stuff. You just can'T keep buying and upgrading and replacing.
So this rather new concept of we need to get people shopping and buying to save the economy really puts me off. Now I'm not an economist, or even play one on TV, but does the world's economic engine really only run smoothly when people are buying way too much stuff and basically throwing money away. It didn't work like that 30 years ago, how did things operate then?
Also is it such a bad thing if demand for LV bags drops 10%, or whiskey demand for that matter. These seem to be a couple of frivolous examples of conspicuous consumption.