“Discretionary goods—things that people don’t really need and are paid for with money people really don’t have” was written by Jon Marksman on MarketWatch on June 23, 2010. The blog The End of Civilization added the line to its “Amateur economist dictionary update.”
A similar, much older line is, “Too many people spend money they haven’t earned for things they don’t need to impress people they don’t like.”
MarketWatch
June 23, 2010, 12:01 a.m. EDT
Profiting from disaster
Commentary: Retail recession is just the start of an economic slide
By Jon Markman
(...)
Ever since then, fellow retailers of discretionary goods—things that people don’t really need and are paid for with money people really don’t have—have also begun to turn pale.
The End of Civilization
Amateur economist dictionary update
Posted: June 27, 2010 by hpx83 in Humour
Discretionary goods = Things that people don’t really need and are paid for with money people really don’t have.
(MarketWatch)
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
Recent entries:
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More new entries...
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
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