Building back better also means buying stuff smarter

Americans Need to Learn to Live More Like Europeans — Allison Schrager It’s become the conventional wisdom that the U.S. economy is built on [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( [Americans Need to Learn to Live More Like Europeans]( — Allison Schrager It’s become the conventional wisdom that the U.S. economy is built on Americans’ endless appetite to buy lots and lots of stuff. When the economy falters, we’re told spending is our patriotic duty. But suddenly, Americans can’t spend like they used to. Store shelves are emptying, and it can take months to find a car, refrigerator or sofa. If this continues, we may need to learn to do without — and, horrors, live more like the Europeans. That actually might not be a bad thing, because the U.S. economy could be healthier if it were less reliant on consumption. After all, Americans haven’t always acted like this. We’ve entered an age of overabundance. We consume much more than we used to and more than other countries. Our spending habits slowed some during the pandemic but, despite all the shortages, they’ve come roaring back. Americans tend to overspend or buy cheap substitutes rather than save up for longer-lasting, [better-quality goods](. That’s a function of the accessibility of cheap goods, of having more space to store our purchases, and also of a culture where buying stuff feeds the empty part of our souls. Read the [whole thing](. [The Collapse of GE’s House of Debt Was 130 Years Coming]( — David Fickling [Greenspan’s Conundrum Has Returned to Haunt Markets]( — John Authers [Of Course MoviePass Is Back]( — Matt Levine [The Moderna and Myocarditis Link Needs More Study]( — Therese Raphael and Sam Fazeli [U.S. Universities Are Running Out of Students]( — Matthew Yglesias [Grown Kids Still Stuck at Home? Change Is on the Horizon.]( — Justin Fox [Modi’s India Points to Perils of White Nationalism in U.S. and U.K.]( — Pankaj Mishra [Amazon Versus Visa and the Coming Fintech Wars]( — Paul J. Davies [The Fed Put Itself Between a Rock and a Hard Place]( — Bill Dudley More From Bloomberg Opinion Here’s what we’ve been talking about this week. - Watch: [End of the Pandemic? How Pills and Boosters Change the Equation]( with Robert George and Mary Duenwald - Watch: [Risks & Rewards]( with John Authers and Lisa Abramowicz - Listen (mobile only): [The Global Supply Chain Crisis: Why Everything’s Getting Expensive]( on Twitter Spaces - Listen (mobile only): [Do Americans Need to Live More Like Europeans?]( on Twitter Spaces - Listen (mobile only): [Conglomerates in Crisis: Unpacking J&J, GE, Toshiba and More]( on Twitter Spaces - Listen: “Follow the Science” with Faye Flam: [Sick Buildings and the Pandemic]( - Listen: “Deep Background” with Noah Feldman: [Miseducation and Climate Change]( This is the Weekend Edition of Bloomberg Opinion Today, a roundup of the most popular stories Bloomberg Opinion published this week based on web readership. New subscribers to the newsletter can [sign up here](. Like Bloomberg Opinion Today? [Subscribe to Bloomberg All Access and get much, much more](. You’ll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022