The New Normal

I promised to get to the bottom of this "New Normal" phenomena. In a nutty shell, the New Normal is just a bad name for the same old ....

1. Consumer Patterns.

Per ABC News (who has a series of articles and videos on the subject):
“The New Normal: How has the recession changed the lives of average Americans? The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and the ensuing recession have forced Americans to change their lives in ways large and small. It's a world of "new normals," with more belt-tightening, less income and, in many cases, a newfound gratitude for the most basic human comforts: family, home and health.”

It is true that American’s are cutting-back and saving more. But, to ABC I say: There is nothing “new” about a mother foregoing her three-figure salon appointment for a 15-minute stop at the Hair Cuttery. A bad haircut is not News. Selling a beamer in exchange for a Volvo is not news. National Lampoons Go to the Community Swim Club…. is. not. news.

Trust me, I come from a long line of coupon cutters and bargain shoppers. My great Nana Hildabidel and my pig-tailed cousin Madison could both tell you, there is nothing new about this normal.

For a more gruesome reminder of the Old Normal of shop-thriftiness: do you remember the WalMart stampede back in those sunny forecasted days of November 2008. Sorry for posting.

2. Ways of Doing Business

Per an article written by Ian Davis in the McKinsey Quarterly
“We are experiencing not merely another turn of the business cycle, but a restructuring of the economic order.”

Davis’ “New Normal” for businesses includes: (1) less financial leverage; (2) an expanded role for government; (3) a struggle between financial transparency and financial protectionism (he and I both rooting for the former); and (4) Asia.

I’m in agreement. Though I am not sure whether these four points fully constitute a “restructuring of the economic order.” More change than this is coming, I’m sure of it.

Finally, if people and businesses really need to bone-up and adapt to a New Economic Order, we really need to come up with a more encouraging name than the “New Normal.” This isn’t Joe’s Economy people, it’s ours.