The Distorted Consumer Economy

I remember back when I was growing up, that there was much discussion about America changing from a manufacturing economy into a service economy. There was commentary and projection about what it would mean for our future, as there was fear that our economic backbone would be shifted overseas. It was a big deal. As we sit here today, decades later, we are still the light of the economic world in many ways. However, in our opinion, something new has emerged, but on a different level. Let’s proceed.

A few weeks ago, I was driving home from buying a pole saw, and as I waited to turn at the corner, I saw an old delivery truck, with a young man driving quickly, like he had lots to do in a short time. The look on his face was, “I work hard and I’m tired”. Yes, many people are tired out there. This was right after I had left a store where there was no one to help me find what I was looking for, and I had to check out everything myself. But as I left there was someone asking me if I found everything I needed, and thanked me for coming in. What? And do we need to get started on the other retailers where there are 30 people lanes to check out which are all closed? Is corporate America seeing what they can get away with and revising their business models? Can they not find anyone to fill the positions? Is this Covid burn off? Probably a little bit of each.

When we think about manufacturing vs services in our country, the service side is emerging into some interesting stuff, and of course, this does feed into the manufacturing side relating to supply chain, etc. Think about retail vs online shopping, and how that has changed. How about inventory in both of those areas. When you go to the store, they may not have your size or exactly what you need but you can get it delivered to your home the same day? And then... drum roll please. We invented a new level of food delivery. For $15, you can get $10 worth of food delivered right away. It kind of seems like America is becoming a society where we are all just trading services with each other. Of course, you can always go out and pay $148 for lunch at the local restaurant. Lol.

Obviously, the American economy is complex and provides some of the most sophisticated service levels the world has ever known. In addition, we are holding our own in the manufacturing arena. We are just grinding our way through what we are going to become in the future and the growing pains tend to be reflected in our day-to-day ways of life. We are also sifting through inflationary, interest rate and supply chain pressures. We just wanted to do a bit of a spoof on the stuff people tend to be talking about. But truly, it will be interesting to see what we as a consumer nation feel is most valuable moving forward into the service future. Time? Quality? Professional service? Trust? Price? Convenience? And in what order. See you there.

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