Doug Poretz

Misunderstanding the Great Recession

Extremely good article. Of significance to me is this point: "And like an addict, America needed more and more credit for the country to function." The use of credit was an economic situation; the addiction to credit was a cultural/societal situation. I agree with Mr. Hansen's point: "The first step in problem solving is accurate definition of the problem. Without accurate definition, the chances of resolution of that problem are diminished." And I think it would be accurate to define this situation, at least in part and maybe mostly, to a cultural issue. If you do that, you will also be more sensitive to the cultural changes that will be part of the solution, whether deliberate or not, and whether we like them or not.

Look at the culture! The American public is in the first stages of becoming a completely different type of consumer (intellectual/informat... based, relying on the Internet for a major component of the buying decision) as opposed to the emotional consumer that existed until now (this is shockingly established by some important new polls). The American capital system is being somewhat (at least) nationalized. The Federal Government is launching an effort to do more than regulate, but also to set policy. We are beginning to see a surge in advocacy campaigns relating to government proposals that will rival the consumer campaigns that have dominated our culture since WW II. Without arguing whether this evolution is good or bad (productive or non-productive or counter-productive), we are certainly making a Hegelian shift away from Capitalism. And it is happening in a truly global economy, where people are networked and anyone has access to the media. We better be at least as sensitive and as focused on the cutlural changes as we are on the economic changes -- the consequences may be even more dramatic and long-lasting.