Rafael Barbosa on irresponsible demands to consume
Listening to: Not much...
Reposted from: euro|topics 26/01/2009
Jornal de Notícias - Portugal
Rafael Barbosa on irresponsible demands to consume
In the daily Jornal de Notícias columnist Rafael Barbosa calls it irresponsible to ask people to consume in answer to the economic crisis: "The contradictions you see today are astonishing. One day we hear that thanks to the lowering of the prime rates and the decrease in inflation we will have more money at our disposal, and so we will be able to keep our jobs. The next day we are told that the unemployment rate has gone up again and that consequently there are more people with no money at their disposal. The day after we are informed that consumption must go up to overcome the crisis. And the day after that we hear that an increasing number of people aren't able to pay off the money they borrowed to spur consumption. It's enough to drive you crazy. ... The call to consume echoes far and wide. Renowned economists go so far as to say that these calls should above all be directed at the middle classes because they are more susceptible to advertising. In a nutshell: at a time when we should hear the call for frugality and thrift, we are called on to be irresponsible. Instead of saving for the future we are called on to spend as though there were no tomorrow."
Reposted from: euro|topics 26/01/2009
Jornal de Notícias - Portugal
Rafael Barbosa on irresponsible demands to consume
In the daily Jornal de Notícias columnist Rafael Barbosa calls it irresponsible to ask people to consume in answer to the economic crisis: "The contradictions you see today are astonishing. One day we hear that thanks to the lowering of the prime rates and the decrease in inflation we will have more money at our disposal, and so we will be able to keep our jobs. The next day we are told that the unemployment rate has gone up again and that consequently there are more people with no money at their disposal. The day after we are informed that consumption must go up to overcome the crisis. And the day after that we hear that an increasing number of people aren't able to pay off the money they borrowed to spur consumption. It's enough to drive you crazy. ... The call to consume echoes far and wide. Renowned economists go so far as to say that these calls should above all be directed at the middle classes because they are more susceptible to advertising. In a nutshell: at a time when we should hear the call for frugality and thrift, we are called on to be irresponsible. Instead of saving for the future we are called on to spend as though there were no tomorrow."