Have We Shopped Our Way Out Of A Job ?

One hand washes the other !

Last week, while watching CNBC's Squawk Box, one of the presenters - Brian Sullivan - said something that has had me thinking. Not sure of his exact wording, but it went a bit like this:
' If we want to have higher wages and jobs, we need to buy what we produce. '

He is right. We want the cheapest goods ( I am guilty as well ) and still expect to be getting paid higher wages. Think about it. In the past, most of what we consumed was made by and large by us, the consumers. ( Interesting article in Time Magazine. )

Money kept circulating in a healthy way. Stuff was made, wages were paid and with those wages we bought the stuff we made. A very simplistic way of looking at this, but I am just using common sense. Yes, I am sure that I am guilty of a lot of mistakes in the Economic way of thinking. Don't forget, this is just my layman opinion.

We have all read and heard about factories moving overseas because it is cheaper to manufacture there. One or two factories won't make a difference, but multiply this by hundreds and thousands. That is a huge number of local workers who need to find other employment in a shrinking job market.

My Grandmother had a shop all of her life. When we were children, I always remembered how on Sundays she would give my Mum some money and say: Go and have a family lunch at this restaurant ( one of her clients ). When you pay, make sure that you mention that you are my daughter and what shop you are from. "

My Grandmother was a genius. She realized, that:

• If people shop at your shop, they want to feel that you support them in their business.
• She knew, that by supporting a business, they in turn could afford to shop at her business.
• One hand washes the other...

In today's times it is so difficult to either find locally produced items or to be able to afford them. Do you think that it would make a difference, if we all made an effort to buy one locally produced item per week / month ?

Biggi