Books › Cheap
Cheap
the high cost of discount culture
296 pages
A sobering, eye-opening journey into the hidden psychological and economic toll of our addiction to a bargain.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like pulling back the curtain on a magic trick you’ve fallen for your entire life, only to realize the illusion has a devastating real-world cost. The narrative moves at a steady, investigative pace, blending historical anecdotes with sharp sociological critique. It immerses you in a sobering, intellectually stimulating mood, shifting your perspective on everyday environments from big-box stores to outlet malls. The prose is accessible and journalistic, guiding you through complex economic concepts without ever feeling dry. It’s an eye-opening experience that transitions from historical curiosity to a profound, unsettling awareness of systemic exploitation. This is a must-read for conscientious consumers and fans of pop-economics who crave a deeper understanding of the invisible forces shaping our modern world.
- Mood
- eye-opening
- reflective
- unsettling
- intellectually stimulating
- Tone
- investigative
- critical
- urgent
- thought-provoking
- sobering
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- the illusion of value · consumerism and identity · hidden costs of convenience · globalization's fallout · the psychology of a bargain
- The writing
- Journalistic and accessible, blending historical narrative with sharp sociological critique.
- The arc
- Begins with a curious exploration of retail history and deepens into a sobering realization of the systemic damage caused by our bargain obsession.
- Who it's for
- Conscientious consumers and fans of pop-economics who want to understand the hidden mechanisms behind everyday purchases.
Content notes
- labor exploitation
- environmental degradation
- discussions of poverty
About the book
An Atlantic correspondent uncovers the true cost—in economic, political, and psychic terms—of our penchant for making and buying things as cheaply as possibleFrom the shuttered factories of the rust belt to the look-alike strip malls of the sun belt—and almost everywhere in between—America has been transformed by its relentless fixation on low price. This pervasive yet little examined obsession is arguably the most powerful and devastating market force of our time—the engine of globalization, outsourcing, planned obsolescence, and economic instability in an increasingly unsettled world.Low price is so alluring that we may have forgotten how thoroughly we once distrusted it. Ellen Ruppel Shell traces the birth of the bargain as we know it from the Industrial Revolution to the assembly line and beyond, homing in on a number of colorful characters, such as Gene Verkauf (his name is Yiddish for "to sell"), founder of E. J. Korvette, the discount chain that helped wean customers off traditional notions of value. The rise of the chain store in post-Depression America led to the extolling of convenience over quality, and big-box retailers completed the reeducation of the American consumer by making them prize low price in the way they once prized durability and craftsmanship.The effects of this insidious perceptual shift are vast: a blighted landscape, escalating debt (both personal and national), stagnating incomes, fraying communities, and a host of other socioeconomic ills. That’s a long list of charges, and it runs counter to orthodox economics which argues that low price powers productivity by stimulating a brisk free market. But Shell marshals evidence from a wide range of fields—history, sociology, marketing, psychology, even economics itself—to upend the conventional wisdom. Cheap also unveils the fascinating and unsettling illogic that underpins our bargain-hunting reflex and explains how our deep-rooted need for bargains colors every aspect of our psyches and social lives. In this myth-shattering, closely reasoned, and exhaustively reported investigation, Shell exposes the astronomically high cost of cheap.
Description from Open Library.
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