Reporter's Notebook

How much does spending matter?

As I watch corporate giants such as Starbucks and Microsoft make cuts, I hear a lot about how the economy will improve once consumer confidence gets back up.

This makes sense in many ways – businesses can’t survive and people can’t keep their jobs if consumers aren’t supporting them financially. But when I look around, I don’t see a lot of reason for consumers to be confident. I, for one, feel much more confident these days when I’m saving money rather than spending it.

There’s a lot of discussion about this happening online. My favorite money blog, Get Rich Slowly, includes a post this week about the paradox of thrift, which calls attention to a pretty fascinating piece at ConsumerismCommentary.com. Elsewhere, I’ve read that the current economic situation could lead to lasting changes in our culture and in Americans’ spending habits – spending less, that is.

If we have a spending slowdown for years to come, how do you plan to adjust within your business? If you believe consumers will pick up where they left off, what’s giving you that confidence? Or do you see our economy heading in a new direction, toward a different kind of strength than we’ve had in recent decades? Your answers to these questions can help shape our coverage of your business community, so send us your thoughts.

--Charity Thompson can be reached at cthompson@vbjusa.com