Page 183 - COVID-19: The Great Reset

When a tipping point is reached, extreme inequality begins to
erode the social contract and increasingly results in antisocial

(even criminal) behaviour often directed at property. In response,
consumption patterns must be seen to be changing. How might
this play out? Conspicuous consumption could fall from favour.
Having the latest, most up-to-date model of whatever will no

longer be a sign of status but will be thought of as, at best, out of
touch, and, at worst, downright obscene. Positional signalling will
be turned upside down. Projecting a message about oneself
through a purchase and flaunting expensive “stuff” may simply

become passé. Put in simple terms, in a post-pandemic world
beset by unemployment, insufferable inequalities and angst about
the environment, the ostentatious display of wealth will no longer
be acceptable.

The way forward may be inspired by the example of Japan

together with a few other countries. Economists constantly worry
about the possible Japanification of the world (to which we
referred in the macro section), but there is a much more positive

Japanification story that gives us a sense of where we may want
to go with respect to consumption. Japan possesses two
distinctive features that are intertwined: it has one of the lowest
levels of inequality among high-income countries, and it has since
the burst of the speculative bubble in the late 1980s had a lower

level of conspicuous consumption that sets it apart. Today, the
positive value of minimalism (made viral by the Marie Kondo
series), the lifelong pursuit of finding meaning and purpose in life

(ikigai) and the importance of nature and the practice of forest
bathing (shirin-yoku) are being emulated in many parts of the
world, even though they all espouse a relatively more “frugal”
Japanese lifestyle as compared to more consumerist societies. A
similar phenomenon can be observed in Nordic countries, where

conspicuous consumption is frowned upon and repressed. But
none of this makes them less happy, quite the opposite. [161] As
psychologists and behavioural economists keep reminding us,

overconsumption does not equate to happiness. This might be
another personal reset: the understanding that conspicuous
consumption or excessive consumption of any kind is neither

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