In France they refer to the global financial crisis as le krunch, rather charmingly spelt with a k. It’s a good word. I like it because it conjures up visions of an out-of-control greedy monster out to destroy our livelihoods.
One of the consequences of le krunch has been a revival of thrift. That’s another good word. For some reason I associate it with the cheap toilet paper they used to have at school, the stuff so hard we used to avoid it altogether and bring our own tissues. Thrift is the opposite of luxury. The only problem is what I may consider a necessity may be luxury to others.
Toilet paper is a good example. There is a highly amusing story in the papers about American tastes for toilet paper. Apparently, just like me, they rather like the soft padded stuff. Sales of these luxury brands went up by as much 40 percent in the US last year. Even in these times of le krunch, they are happy to pay more for their toilet paper and get something soft and quilted and perhaps even scented in return, at least so far. Great news for the toilet paper industry, but bad news for the environment. The thicker the paper, the more it is padded and quilted, the greater its environmental impact. Americans, it seems, don’t care for toilet paper made out of recycled paper. Perhaps le krunch will make them think again, if not to save forests at least to save money.
Saving money is all the rage. Every day there is a new tip on how to do something for less. Whether it is how to cook with cheaper ingredients or how to exercise without going to the gym. My favorite is a segment I saw on a French TV program. It was called beat le krunch, books not to read. Ten critics each reviewed a book which they thought dreadful — and rather tellingly all the books were either best-sellers or books written by celebrities — and told viewers, we’ve read it, now you don’t have to, we’ve saved you the cost of this book. I thought it rather good, because books, just like films are paid for before they are consumed. By the time you find out it is rubbish, you’ve already paid. You can hardly go back to the box office and say you hated the film, please can I have my money back.
It is fascinating how le krunch is affecting day-to-day habits. Saving on the big stuff — by not taking long-haul holidays, buying furniture or new cars for instance — is followed by spending more on the little stuff. Take a walk down London’s Oxford Street and there is no shortage of shoppers. But the shops that are packed with queues at the cash-tills are the value brands. It could be summed up as buy more for less. So long as they go home with bags full of stuff, they are happy. Consumerism is far from dead, it just moved down a notch or two on the quality ladder.
But perhaps this need to constantly buy stuff is not as bad as it seems. Someone told me recently that there was a link between money and happiness but not in the way you’d necessarily expect. Being so rich as to be able to buy a yacht or to cover yourself in designer brands does not make you a happier person, that kind of spending is pure luxury and great if you can afford it. The kind of spending that is associated with feeling happier is spending money on entertainment and on daily treats. It makes sense. If you buy something little every day, you put yourself in a mindset of plenty. If every time you buy a paperback, a cinema ticket, a magazine, a cup of coffee, a muffin, or anything else you may choose to buy, you do so with a feeling of generosity and gratefulness, then money becomes associated with happiness.
If, on the other hand, every time you take your wallet out, you worry and ask yourself whether you are getting the best possible deal, money is a source of stress, regardless of how much of it or how little of it you have.
Ever since le krunch hit our newsstands, I have found myself veering between extreme panic and then astonishment that all seems rather normal once I put down my newspaper and take a walk down the high street. The reality is that times are hard, thousands of people around the globe have lost their jobs or lost their homes or lost their savings or a fatal combination of the three. The news is filled with alarming terms like global meltdown and the short-term economic outlook is pretty bleak but it is worth remembering that this is not the Great Depression. Le krunch seems more dramatic because of the way it has wiped out institutions that were household names and because it has struck like a global tornado. Recessions are real, as are the hardships they engender, but they are a natural part of the economic cycle. A look at the history books will remind us that in terms of economics at least the globe has seen much worse than this and survived. Le krunch can be beaten.
