Friday, May 2, 2008

The Economic Downturn: See the Upside

Letter to the editor, Star Tribune, May 2, 2008

By Jeff Naylor, Minneapolis

Minnesota state economist Tom Stinson said it's "disturbing" that new car sales fell off 12 perent in 2007 (front page, May 1). Somehow, I can't get myself worked up about that.

In the relatively tough economic times of the past year, people managed to forgo some large purchases, making due with or repairing the vehicles they already had. More use of existing parts and labor, less junk sent to the salvage yards. So what's the problem, exactly?

I'm not sure if it's possible, but it would be nice to have an economy that didn't require rampant consumerism in order to thrive. Like it or not, Americans are having to learn how to conserve resources and to re-use products to their full potential. It's not such a bad thing, and it's about time.

No comments: