Scarcity Thinking Robs Us All

We spend one or two days a month worrying about money, according to a 2016 Mercer consulting study. That is the equivalent of being robbed of 2 to 3 weeks per year, when we could be enjoying life. For employers, it is estimated that $250 billion a year is lost to worker stress, much of which is financial.

(Source:  USA TODAY article by Russ Wiles of the Arizona Republic - "When money issues hit workers, employers are the ones who pay." - 8/29/17).

In an earlier post on this site, I shared the dynamics of scarcity thinking.  A recent google search produced a concise article by Shahram Heshmat, Ph.D. ` "The Scarcity Mindset" in Psychology Today, 4/15.

Limitations affect our thoughts, feelings, choices and behaviors.  On the positive side, we get more focused when resources are scarce; such as a looming deadline. But a constant scarcity mindset, think living in poverty, makes us focus too much on short-term needs.  We can only make so many either/or decisions, and often a 'self-control failure' results. An example is continuing to smoke, despite long-term consequences.

Dr. Wendy Shumway, a Guest on my community TV show, encouraged us to move towards an abundance mindset, vs. either/or thinking.  Not an easy task when faced with monthly bills, but the only way to steal back our precious time on earth. Studies show that getting enough rest is a good place to start.

Check out Wendy's interview under the "MidLIFE Matters" tab on this website.

Subconscious Shopping Decisions

As a frequent online shopper, I may be saving myself, from myself!  Interesting USA Today article by Jeff Stibel (7/31/17) summarizes how our senses of sight, smell, sound, and yes -- sexual arousal, influence our purchases.  Pretty packaging, suitable scents, and music all play a part in what we buy.  Too-loud music in a store? You may experience sensory overload, which encourages impulsive purchases!  We've all learned not to buy groceries while hungry.  Stemming our sense of excitement about a product also can help avoid buyer's remorse.  I wonder what research would say about impulsive online buying?

Radium, Tobacco, Asbestos - now Opioids and Sex Slaves?

I recently read The Radium Girls - so am especially attuned to how corporate profits can cause management to  turn a blind eye to the long-term damage their products can cause. In that account, young girls from working-class families used their tongues to sharpen paint brushes  in applying radium numbers on watch dials.  Horrible disfigurements and deaths resulted; the radium poisoned them from the inside-out.  At the time, radium was touted as a miracle substance that made you positively 'glow' with health!  The companies denied, changed locations, obstructed justice.  Very dark period in our manufacturing history.

The glamour of smoking during the WWII era enticed many young people to get addicted, resulting in bladder, lung, and other cancers -- often decades later.  The tobacco industry followed the radium example - including shifting their markets to vulnerable populations in other countries.  Many lawsuits wound their way through our legal system.

Same for asbestos, which my Dad was exposed to, in great quantity, working in the trades.  I've received some paltry settlements - token sums for shortening a loved-one's life.  Again, settlements resulted from class action suits.

Now, Ohio is looking to sue big Pharm for actively  promoting the use of opioids to docs - resulting in a national crisis that is tearing families and communities apart.  So the denials and delays and high-priced tactics unfold.

I also was horrified after watching a documentary - "I Am Jane Doe" - about how Backpage ads allow pimping of teen-aged girls.  As one young victim said, 'It was as easy to buy me as ordering a pizza.'  Porn is a mega business, and our laws have inadvertently allowed the internet to protect the third-party platforms.  Many people are fighting to change the laws and hold complicit parties responsible - it often takes a long time for goodness to prevail.  Too long for the radium girls, the guys breathing in asbestos, the smokers -- and now the opioid addicts and our American sex slaves.  

Lies, Damn Lies & Statistics

Our collective sense of optimisim largely drives consumer spending, which largely drives our economy.  When we have fatih that things are looking up, we spend and invest.  Consumers are credited with influencing the US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 70%, although even that calculation is a generalized cause/effect.

January, 2017 reported good news on the job front; the 'official' employment rate is 4.8%.  But add in people discouraged by rejections, and part-timers who want to work full-time, and the rate is estimated at 9.2%.  Big difference.

Mid-level trade skills, like welders, are in demand as the recession recedes.  As are high-tech and entry level jobs, such as warehouse workers.  One bright spot is that employers are 'getting creative' about enticing retirees, stay-at-home-moms and those with disabilities.

Overall, pay increases are lethargic.  Rank-and-file workers averaged less than 2% increases in the last year, and the financial industry is reporting some pay drops.  When I started my compensation career almost 40 years ago, a 10% pool was set aside for merit and promotional pay increases at a mega insurance company.

I listen to stories, and many of us boomers are living in what I've come to call 'diminished circumstances.' Young people are carrying college debt and are unlikely to start over as welders.  While some are riding high in the money and tech industries, I can understand why so many people are not spending and investing.  Their reality is the nearly 10% 'hidden unemployment' statistic - more truth than lie.    

Source:  NYT article by Patricia Cohen, 2/4/17:  "Jobs Surge in January, But Pay Gains Remain Weak"

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/03/business/economy/unemployment-jobs-report-hiring.html?_r=0

Birds of a Feather ...

Studies show that most of us are friends with people like us, including educational achievements, race and political views.  While understandable, it can mean we don't branch out and think from different points of view.  This insularity divides us, as a nation.  I feel fortunate to have friends from work (many have graduate degrees) but yes, I do know how to drive a pickup truck.  What?  Here's the link to the NYT article by Damon Darlin. 

http://nyti.ms/2c6LbrR