The Penny-Pinching Japanese Consumer

[Mulboyne]

[canman]

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.

[james]

So this rather new concept of we need to get people shopping and buying to save the economy really puts me off.

agreed 100%. today's "values" of mass consumption and entitlement, spending well beyond one's means and always having the latest and greatest are unsustainable, both environmentally and economically.

this is all too obvious when it comes to houses, the very catalyst for the current woes. just how much house and how much stuff do people need to be happy?

[Netherlander]

Well said guys. I believe we have become a society suffering of oniomania. Oniomania is a psycological disorder, which is also refered to as shopaholism.

Bellow is a Wikipedia definition.
Similar to other compulsive behaviors, sufferers often experience the highs and lows associated with addiction. Victims often experience moods of satisfaction when they are in the process of purchasing, which seems to give their life meaning while letting them forget about their sorrows. Once leaving the environment where the purchasing occurred, the feeling of a personal reward has already gone. To compensate, the addicted person goes shopping again. Eventually a feeling of suppression will overcome the person. For example, cases have shown that the bought goods will be hidden or destroyed, because the person concerned feels ashamed of their addiction and tries to conceal it.

[Coligny]

I use bath water because it's still warm... and in this country finding a washing machine with water heater is more difficult than finding a schoolgirl without chlamydia...

And... as everybody else... there's a time were shopping for the sake of shopping take a toll on the living space inside the house... since it's also costly to get rid of anything... i'm kinda in a vicious circle...

[FG Lurker]

The bath water thing made me laugh. USians no doubt imagine their sort of bath water, where people sit in it while washing off all their shit.