A more moderate consumerism?

Technology in the recession | Less is Moore | The Economist

Could this credit crunch be modifying our behaviors?
Current popular press in the US likes to talk about how frugal everyone is being - darning socks and baking at home again. But it feels a bit too much like a fad to be seen to be more modest, while at the same time to be reading one's Martha Stewart magazine.
The Economist picks up this from a technology point of view, as hardware and software have now perhaps got to the point where we can get what we need and want. But I think it's more about the computing power being more than sufficient these days for all the communication and home movies that most of us deal with.
So, a crunch of 18 months has limited impact on behavior. Londoners seem very willing to believe the housing bubble can re-inflate quickly. In a perverse way, this still needs to get worse if we are to see any benefit in more modest wants.

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