Word: 80s
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...POLITICS OF RICH AND POOR by Kevin Phillips (Random House; $19.95). Republicans beware! A proven political prognosticator foresees a populist backlash in the '90s against the greedfest of the '80s. Compellingly argued, but why isn't anyone bothering to vote...
...impetuous '80s are over. The shop-till-you-drop gilded decade of excess, Rolex, baby millionaires and their legions of wannabes has given way to a new age of moderation and caution. Dynasty, meet Roseanne. In its June survey, the Conference Board, which every month measures consumer confidence across the U.S., found people more worried than at any time since 1987. The economic shock therapy that began with the Crash of '87 and continues with the $500 billion savings and loan debacle has given Americans a new appreciation of limits...
...consumer caution in the declining sales of such big- ticket items as appliances and furniture, usually two of his company's strongest categories. Says he: "People are beginning to worry. They are reading more today about factory layoffs and companies failing because of the debt restructuring of the '80s. There's a great deal of unrest out there about job security and even levels...
...mixture of resignation and relief. Resignation to diminished expectations, for one thing. The children of the large baby-boom generation are reaching their expensive teenage years, and college costs loom. Something's got to give. Many consumers also feel a back-to-basics sense of relief now that '80s icons like the Santa Fe look, sun-dried tomatoes and goat-cheese pizza have seen their day. Such ordinary pleasures as gardening, milk shakes and fried chicken and mashed potatoes are acceptable once more. Exclusive name brands no longer carry the same cachet or inspire the same hell-bent-for-leather...
Money is still important as an indicator of career performance, but crass materialism is on the wane. Marian Salzman, 31, an editor at large for the collegiate magazine CV, believes the shift away from the big-salary, big-city role model of the early '80s is an accommodation to the reality of a depressed Wall Street and slack economy. Many boomers expected to have made millions by the time they reached 30. "But for today's graduates, the easy roads to fast money have dried up," says Salzman...