What is Market(s)

Some complaints about consumerism rest on the perceived wastefulness of economic practices, for example, (1) the observation that individuals and firms discard large quantities of valuable goods, (2) the mass production of low-quality consumer goods, (3) research and product development serve the desires of the wealthy, (4) rapid product cycles and obsolescence encourage a constant stream of new purchases, and (5) consumption practices undervalue environmental and ecological goods. This chapter argues that a practice is “wasteful” if it is systemic, avoidable, and results in a lower-than-possible wellbeing. Each of the observed “wasteful” elements of the consumer economy can be explained by economic and marketing practices, though only a subset are avoidable and diminish consumer wellbeing, and are therefore truly excessive. This chapter concludes by examining some proposed solutions to economic wastefulness, as well as some alternative visions of economic progress that can more powerfully distinguish between justified and wasteful practices.