Posted by bad_luck on 11/19/2012 6:36:00 PM (view original):
Posted by moy23 on 11/19/2012 6:23:00 PM (view original):
Posted by MikeT23 on 11/19/2012 6:05:00 PM (view original):
I think there's some truth in the "believe in the future" part.
It's called consumer confidence
Consumer confidence is based on an individual's financial well being, not the country's debt. I won't buy a new car if I'm worried about my job or have a ton of debt to service. Or, a business won't hire more employees and invest in new equipment if the employees and equipment they already have is being underutilized.
I'm not going to avoid buying things I want or need just because the government has debt. It has had debt for my entire life.
you have an answer for everything - even when you are wrong. A county's debt plays a big role in consumer optimism for the future... which is confidence to a T. don't believe me look at the headlines of marketwatch today. when debt talks seem to be on track... the market goes up. when they don't, or the eurozone debt talks (another example) are stalling, the market declines. the market is an indicator of investor confidence... which is a big part of consumer confidence. this country has had debt all your life.... just not at as dangerous a level (to GDP) as it is today.... there is a difference.
i'm personally not buying things I want because the country has a ton of debt (with no plan) and I've seen what happens to countries that can't control spending.... Greece, Spain, etc. I told my wife a year ago to do the same for specifically that reason. I'm also not spending money on things I want because it's being fiscally responsible to save that money for a rainy day.... inevitably something will go wrong that will cost money to fix. that's life. I'd rather be prepared.
imo most wealthy believe, and it's my belief too, that one can never save enough. tax the wealthy more and I'll tell you what they will do... they will simply adjust their habits to spend less because saving money is more important to them than spending it. that's life too.