OPINION
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Hey Big Spender, Flaunt Your Scrimping
Greed is good, as long as it's in the name of frugality
By Wesley Oliver
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Posted Feb 21, 09 3:42 PM CST
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(Newser)
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Recessions would be great for the rich—whose wealth insulates them from mercurial fluctuations in the economy—if it weren’t for the guilt they feel over rising poverty. But Chris Ayres has a solution for the loaded that may also revive the economy: “Flaunt your parsimony,” he advises in the Los Angeles Times, because “without spending, we all go bust.”
Calling his Keynes-inspired theory "conspicuous thrift,” Ayres urges the wealthy to splurge on money-saving items—pricey hybrid sedans and eco-friendly homes come to mind—while appearing to be cash-strapped like the rest of us. “Mark my words,” Ayres writes, “the second I get some cash, I'm off to buy some hens, hire a farmer, take out a mortgage on a ranch and congratulate myself on how cheap I get my eggs.”