Novelty of Technology

For me this reading was a little difficult. Starting out reading the quote is presented " the US economy likely will not see recession for years to come. We dont want one, dont need one, and, as we have the tools to keep the current expansion going, we wont have one. This expansion will last forever." (Henwood pg 3) In reading this quote, I can see exactly how right that this statement is. As a society we are always looking for the next best thing. For example, working in the cell phone business we just launched a new device. People are coming into the store and changing and upgrading their phones just for the sheer fact that the new phone has new technology and is above what the other cell phones do. This is such an interesting trend to grasp that there is so many people that are willing to spend big money on something that is the next best thing.
When the quote states that we have to tools to keep the expansion going. That most of what the economy is based on is fantasy and product of American triumphalism. (pg 6) I feel that that a lot of the ways that we do business is based on fantasy and the fact as long as we dont see it happening and it is not hurting us then it must be good. But then there are instants like Enron where so much was happening behind closed doors that even the employees thought that it would just be safer to leave it as it is. We associate information with money and as long as we are making the money then it doesnt matter how we are getting there.
With thinking that as long as we are making money it doesnt matter how we get it, goes the same way for spending the money. We have created a society that only wants to wear name brand clothing and only have things that are at the highest tier. We are getting smarter and finding new ways to do things that companies would not have been able to do years prior. But sometimes it seems as though we are not using our knowledge for good. We have to have certain things so we have to develop faster ways of getting them. Such as ebay and amazon. We now can sit at home and get whatever we want without thinking.