A Different Take on the Upside of the Downturn

Say Hello to the Thrift Zeitgeist

By Ellen Goodman

It read like a manifesto for the new zeitgeist, a signpost for an America decking the halls with boughs of thrift and singing carols to the values of frugality:

“Perhaps it will be different now. Perhaps now is an opportunity to reassess what really matters. After all, if everything you ever bought her disappeared overnight, what would she truly miss?”

How charming. What a tribute to the collapse of consumerism, the one upside to the economic downside. The only problem was that this little gem of thoughtfulness was an ad for diamonds.

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Now, competitive consumption has been replaced by contagious anxiety. Buying hit the wall with the housing collapse, the stock market plunge, the credit card crunch and the surge in unemployment figures. “Thrift is the new normal.” “Sixty percent off is the new black.” Cutting back is in. Retail therapy is out.