@figmentofmyass. Your possibility is only just a speculation and we have never seen any sign that our culture will shift away from consumerism. I reckon it is in our nature to need to have the latest stuff. I also reckon that it is this very nature that sped up our technological advancement.
that's an oversimplification of the issue. the degree of consumerism pervading society is not static and IMO is directly linked to savings rates. regardless, the real issue is that people used to save money. now they don't. whether that trend is reversible, i don't know, but it's certainly possible.
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/04/why-dont-americans-save-money/478929/But the decline in savings is recent, and the human brain hasn’t evolved since the Ford administration. The bottom 90 percent of households saved 10 percent of their income in the first Reagan administration. By 2006, their savings rate was nearly negative-10 percent.
Other writers suggest that the country’s low saving rate is purely a matter of American exceptionalism. But it is also a myth that the U.S. is alone in its turn against saving in the last three decades. The personal savings rate has fallen in Canada, Germany, and Japan, as well.
It might not be static, however, it is in our nature. We have always been
hungering for the latest and shiniest things to buy. It has been like this in all of human history. The more shiny things you have, the higher status you want appear to be on. That is us.
Also, I would argue that it is not strongly linked with savings anymore because of credit cards. Banks have been issuing credit cards with minimum background checks in many countries.
An economy of savers will not develop and move as fast, I reckon.
