The iPhone 5, which Apple Inc. plans to release this week, could get credit for something Congress, the White House and Federal Reserve have struggled to do: boosting the U.S. economy in a measurable way.
From HERE
So what I get from the article is that they are hoping the GDP will grow due to cell phone sales in the last quarter.
What is going to help it in the following quarter or the quarter after that?
What happens if people can't afford the phones?
They are really thinking that selling iPhones is going to help.
Now some other thoughts.
What do cell phones add to the economy?
Great, Billy can text Mary, or you can check the weather, or you can sext your boyfriend, but they don't really add any value to the economy. They are a luxury and usually an expensive monthly bill the really doesn't generate anything but costs. Yes, I understand some people can use them in their business dealings but what percentage are just mindless drones that have to have the latest materials so they can tweet that they are taking a shit?
I saw ppl in Haiti, showing what's left of ppl's huts years after the earthquake, milling around on their cell phones. They can't rebuild their huts, please send money, so they can pay their cell phone bills. Haiti, Where ppl get cell phones but nowhere to live......
ReplyDeleteThe concept that the purchase of new cell phones can "help" the economy is just as silly as what those same government-bought economists put forth as the "causes" of inflation: higher oil prices, greedy businessmen charging higher prices, etc. (Inflation is defined as more money chasing fewer goods. So when the Federal Reserve prints/creates more money - so-called Quantitative Easing - there's the "more money", folks.)
ReplyDeleteNow don't go all commie on me.
ReplyDeleteValue is what people want, period, full stop, no exceptions. If many people want i5s they are valuable, even if you don't want one.