NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Saving a few extra bucks a month might make sense individually, but when everyone penny-pinches together, the consequences can be catastrophic.
How bad? As many as one in three of the jobs lost in the Great Recession and its aftermath could have been caused by such collective consumer frugality. That's up to 1.85 million more job losses than there would have been otherwise.
The statistics are examined in a new working paper titled Trading Down and the Business Cycle, published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The paper states that between 22% and 36% of the jobs lost were because of consumers "trading down," or buying lower quality products and services.
The statistics are examined in a new working paper titled Trading Down and the Business Cycle, published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The paper states that between 22% and 36% of the jobs lost were because of consumers "trading down," or buying lower quality products and services.
Read more here.
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