A Nation of Whiners?

I can't believe that I am about to say this, but here goes: Phil Gramm may have a legitimate point.

Texan Phil Gramm is a former member of the U.S. Senate who has been an informal economics advisor to John McCain's presidential campaign. That fact alone shows colossally bad judgment on the part of McCain. Gramm's economic views are neither mainstream nor helpful. In a recent interview he was asked about the current state of the economy. He told the Washington Times that he felt that the United States was in "a mental recession" significantly motivated by the fact that we are “a nation of whiners.”

I think that Gramm is wrong about one important point --- we are in a recession. Recessions sometimes happen as a natural consequence of economic cycles. In the midst of an economic downturn, elected officials can only do so much to move the economy and may not be able immediately remedy a recession. And though I can hardly believe that I am writing these words: I think that in one respect Phil Gramm is right. We have become a nation of whiners, whiners in this case because all we are doing is complaining about our economic problems without any sense that we ----- the people in this government of and by the people ----- must participate in the drafting of the solutions. And we need to do that by thinking about our national interests, not simply our individual interests.

That doesn't mean that the president and Congress are blame-free for our current economic woes. From better regulation of corporate finance schemes and machinations to responsible financing of the war in Iraq, our current federal government has pretty well dropped the ball when it comes to its economic responsibilities. Don't even get me started on the current fracas that is Medicare reimbursements. But, that noted, it's a regrettable fact of economic life that recessions happen. What government can do (and should have been doing) is engage in the reasonable protections that help to make recessions (or downturns or slumps or whatever else you want to call them) less painful and perhaps less likely. Our government hasn't done that because we (the people) haven't asked it to do so. And we're currently feeling the effects of our joint irresponsibility. An example should help.

The rising cost of fuel and groceries are two factors in our current economic crunch. They happen to be two factors that influence virtually every American household, no matter how secure their job. In my household of just two people, I've watched my average grocery bill tick up about 20% in the last year. Add to that the $4 per gallon gas I'm putting in my car (and it's a car that gets 25 miles to the gallon in town driving) and the increased cost of heating and cooling my home and my disposable income has shrunk a good 15 - 20% in the last year. Clearly, I'm not alone in this regard.

Our government (the one by and for the people) has made this worse. Paying out billions to corn growers in the form of ethanol subsidies when we need that corn for the food we eat has caused the price of groceries to rise without significantly improving our fuel prospects. Rising world demand for fuel has caused the price of oil to go up. It's a simple supply and demand curve. At the same time, for years now auto manufacturers have strenuously objected to any notion of greater fuel efficiency in automobiles. And how did consumers respond? Hint: check out the gas-guzzling cars in your neighborhood. We didn't say or do a thing; we didn't demand that our government engage in some long-term planning for our oil-dependent economy. Instead, we acted like cheap oil was our national right.

I could go on and on.

But the media's constant discussions of just how bad off we are doesn't help. It's one thing to report on the reality of home foreclosures and declining real estate values. It's quite another to adopt a chicken little attitude about it all. I consider myself a reasonably well-educated and careful consumer of news and I think that the news media likes to stoke the fires of our economic fears.

But we don't exist in a historical (economic) vacuum and many of these problems were the predictable consequence of poor political decisions. And clutching our heads and crying about our misery doesn't find us solutions. It doesn't move us any closer to a national conversation about the steps we need to take to place our economy on a firmer foundation moving forward. Responsible citizens should demand that the media help us to better understand the situation in which we have found ourselves so that we can be educated voters who elect representatives prepared to engage in economically responsible policy-making. We got ourselves into this mess and we must get ourselves out: it's OUR government after all.

I'm taking that step by demanding it here and now. When I hear (or read) economic stories that don't help, I'll be writing a quick note to that media outlet demanding more responsible reporting.

I hope that I'm not the only one.