| Well, it seems to me you're trying to have it both ways. Does advertising cause people to spend more than they would otherwise, or not? If it does, then eliminating advertising would reduce spending which is what causes a recession. If it doesn't, then what's all the fuss about? Recessions in North America (can't speak for any other context unfortunately) have ended due to concerted efforts to get people to spend more: lowering interest rates mostly, forgiving debts, and political leaders outright telling people that their patriotic duty was to go out there and shop. Looking around the world, it seems to me that many recessions didn't, in fact, end. Instead, their economies imploded entirely. That's not a risk I'm interested in taking, personally. But you do, you rebel you. |
Yes, it does, though not as much as they wish they could spend. Hence the unhappiness. However, it also distorts the allocation of that spending.
> If it does, then eliminating advertising would reduce spending which is what causes a recession.
People would not stop buying stuff without advertising. They would be more likely to spend the money more on vacations/experiences. Trusted reviews would become a much larger industry. This is different from ads however, as it would be paid for by the consumer. I suppose companies could also pay the reviewer to include their product when doing a round-up of the various options, assuming that all of the competitors paid the same amount, there's no reason for the reviewer to be biased.
> Looking around the world, it seems to me that many recessions didn't, in fact, end. Instead, their economies imploded entirely.
How many of them were caused by banning/regulating direct-to-consumer advertising?