Consume

So "The Economy" in this country is generally measured by the Gross Domestic Product. And roughly 70% of the economy is driven by retail sales. I heard this morning on KGMI that one fifth of all retail sales are generated on Black Friday (an even I fortunately missed). And although all consumption is not solely retail sales, spending on retail goods plays a pick part in the composition of consumption.

I heard that the anticipated results of this year's numbers point to a 1/2% increase in retail sales, year-over-year. I guess this is good from a capitalist standpoint (the GDP needs to increase yearly in perpetuity), I find it surprising that these numbers do not fare better, as the United States becomes more of a service economy. Production, by definition, includes producing, designing, marketing, distribution of a good; everything else tends to fall into the Consumption bucket.

So my musings on a Sunday morning evoke these thoughts:
- As the production base continues to erode in this country, more and more of the economy will be based upon consumption versus production.
- Production jobs (ie, trades) historically have paid significantly higher than service jobs, hence the conitnued decline in wages and the consequent taxes.
- Sickness, natural disasters, litigation, inflation, etc. all drive the GDP. Is this a healthy metric for our country as a whole?

These are all things I can ponder (as I see a patch of blus sky) this afternoon as I do some chores around the house and garage.