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Showing posts with the label standard of living

Proverbial Cliff

"Ours is a culture of hyperconsumerism.  Not only can and do we buy nearly anything (except for the truly outrageously expensive), but we seem to have come to believe that we can and should have it all and that who we are is dependent on the ability to live in the right neighborhoods, with appropriately sized homes filled with brand-name appliances, with prestige cars parked in the driveway with expensive golf bags and clubs in the trunk and so on.  And so we spend.  We may be spending somewhat less after the 2008 financial crisis, but we are still spending.  Savings may have increased to its highest levels in decades, but the reality is that that is not saying much, since the savings rate has been so abysmally low. "We seem to become fairly good at generating an income, enjoying (for the moment) a very high stand of living.  But it is fleeting because we have not accumulated wealth--for our retirement, for our children's educations, for emergenc...