Spending for the Soul

NEW YORK CITY–In his most recent post, Ethan Penner examines the problems of a consumer-based economy, and suggests ways to break from this model.

The Tiffany’s brand embodies a great variance of emotions for Penner, chief among them the “unbridled lust for opulence,” says Penner. But this is a very American phenomenon that has is only now spreading to the rest of the world, suggests Penner: from metrics that value consumer spending as a sign of economic health to encouragement from the top levels of government, this can often lead to spending on objects that are both unnecessary and not within budget. And it’s unsustainable, says Penner.