Implications of Medium to Long Term Resession

In looking for the silver lining of a very ugly economic cloud, I have been thinking about the upside of a long recession/depression. Once possible out come is a flight to quality. Not in the investing sense, although I'm sure that will happen as well. I'm talking about consumers buying quality over quantity.

This article, in USA Today on Americans buying smaller, smarter homes is an example of what I am talking about.

For more than a decade, she has urged people to build better, not bigger. Now, as the U.S. economy struggles to climb out of a tailspin and environmental concerns rise, her message has gone mainstream.
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She says new gadgets, such as the iPhone, have helped consumers see that bigger is not always better. Now, she says, "we want more out of less."
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"We could have gotten a bigger home" but chose instead better flooring, lighting, countertops and cabinetry, says Jennifer Kovatch, 24, an accounting manager. Next month in Corona, Calif., she and her fiancé are buying their first home. It has three bedrooms, not four. "We traded an extra bedroom for upgrades."

It is going to be a year or two when it pays to shop smarter. Sometimes buying the cheaper product saves money, other times it costs you money!

I leave with this quote from marketwatch:
It's enough to give a Buffett follower pause and consider another Twain nugget: "There are two times in a man's life when he should not speculate: when he can't afford it and when he can." Perhaps I should read more Twain.