By John Aloysius Farrell
I was cruising the aisles at Costco yesterday when it occurred to me: I don't need any more stuff.
Ipod. Flat Screen. Gap wedge. MacBook.
Check. Got it. Yup. Okay.
Don't need no more DVDs. Won't have time before the grave to read the books I've bought. The 96 Mustang convertible still runs good. And if my Luccheses get worn in the sole, I'll haul 'em to a cobbler.
I suppose, if I came into some real money, I could take up a hobby, like scuba spearfishing, in some exotic locale. Or ditch the Mustang for an older, classic version. Or learn the fine points of costly wines and art.
But that won't put folks back to work in Michigan, or keep them at their jobs in Shanghai.
We in the US of A have had a great run, stuff-wise, in the last 10 or 15 years. Our tools and toys got cheap, as our houses soared in value.
We had outlet malls and on-line businesses bidding with retailers for our bucks. Whole industries - recorded music, movie rentals, newspapers - collapsed from the relentless, technology-fueled, downward push on prices. With cheap money, we bought more cars and computers and phones and televisions than we know what to do with.
So it's real easy, now that we hear the economy is slumping, to cut back on non-essentials. What is out there that we'll really miss?
Which is all a little worrisome. What is going to pull us out of the slump? The stock market took a jolt this week when word reached Wall Street that we've just stopped buying. Will China be as docile, or the world as stable, if we lose our jones for cheap fashion, toys and gizmos?
We'll still need doctors and grocery stores and blue jeans and sneakers and, I suppose, the odd book at Christmas or tie on Father's Day.
But the big consumer boom may be over. There is only so much stuff we can digest. Who knows what will happen? Maybe we'll get more spiritual, maybe we'll just get mean.
It's not just the bubble in housing that's burst, it's also the bubble in baubles.
