Novartis
B usiness & professional
MS Education Link
Hear
Evanthia Bernitsas, MD
discuss
information about
multiple sclerosis (MS)
and a prescription
treatment option.
August 9, 2012 6:00pm
Marriott Livonia
17100 N Laurel Park Dr
Livonia, MI 48152
Please RSVP by August 8, 2012
by calling 800-973-0362.
Light food and beverages served.
N 0 VA RT S
ova ti Pharmaceuticals Corporation
2011 Novartis
9/11
T-XIVIG-1099611
22
July 19 • 2012
I'll Take It!
W
e want it fast, simple, at
the lowest cost — and
we want it now! What is
it? Guess? The answer is just about
everything — a new flat screen tele-
vision or a remodeled kitchen — it
doesn't matter! It is the
American way.
I'm that way. It takes
discipline for me to order
a product online at a lower
cost and wait for its deliv-
ery rather than to seek
instant gratification by
immediately purchasing it
locally for more.
Instant gratification
eliminates the time to
think through a purchase
and give consideration to
your budget constraints. Credit cards
are part of the problem. For many
years, I always used credit cards when
making a purchase. Returning the
goods is much simpler. Payment was
deferred, either to the end of month
when the bill came or for some unde-
termined length of time in the future
when I would address the outstanding
balance. Better yet, I did not have to
empty my wallet to get the goods!
There was, however, an additional
consequence. I spent more money on
purchasing goods when I was charging
compared to what I would spend when
paying cash out of pocket. I learned
this lesson over the last three years
when credit tightened and I decided
that I was not going to live the rest of
my life paying absurd interest to the
credit card companies.
The result? When I want to buy some-
thing now, I pay cash for it. And before I
part with the bucks, I look harder for a
sale, think harder as to whether I really
want or need the item, and sometimes
defer the purchase for a week to make
sure I still want it. I still spend, but I
spend less, and I spend wisely.
What is good for the goose, however,
is not good for the gander. In this case,
I'm the goose and the American econ-
omy is the gander. The U.S. economy
is a function of consumer spending.
The greater the spending, the more
demand for goods and services.
Demand then causes employers to hire
more workers to meet the demand,
spending then increases with more
workers — GNP climbs and the good
times roll. Tax revenues
then increase to address our
deficits without the need for
higher taxes. All is good.
But what happens when
credit card purchases
decline, people increase
their savings and decrease
their debt? The answer
is consumer spending
declines, which results in
less hiring of employees
to meet demand, lower
employment and flat or
negative growth in GNP.
Our economy teeters on this
anomaly. If everyone wises up, stops
purchasing goods with credit cards,
spends less, saves more for retirement
and takes a vow against wasting their
hard-earned money by paying usuri-
ous interest to the credit card com-
panies, spending would decline and
economic growth would take a major
hit. Could we survive?
Our government is a good example
of the American credit card spender.
The economy is trillions in debt and
wastes our tax dollars by paying inter-
est to China and the rest of those who
are financing the U.S. debt. If we all
get smart and stop wasting our future
by financing purchases on credit,
then, to offset the decline in spending
and tax revenues, our government will
need to do the same thing.
Is it so bad to cut spending, live
within our means and not waste our
individual or collective future by paying
interest resulting from excessive behav-
ior? Truth be told — what is good for
the goose is good for the gander.
❑
Ken Gross is an attorney with Thal/ Gross
and host of the Financial Crisis Talk
Center, a radio program that airs weekly
at 10 a.m. Saturday on Talk Radio 1270
WXYT AM.