33 percent
Decline in the Tchotchke Index from 2000 to 2007 after adjusting for inflation, according to the DemoMemo blog from New Strategist Publications, a publisher of aggregated government and industry consumer data.
What are tchotchkes and why does decreased spending on them matter to the economy? From Yiddish, tchotchkes are, simply put, trinkets or knickknacks. DemoMemo says spending on tchotchkes for the home—things to enhance a space, like wall hangings, mirrors, vases, or the odd floor piece picked up at yard sales or in stores—is a good indicator of the health of the American economy.
When consumers are flush, they buy a lot of tchotchkes. When money is tight, people focus on the necessities, and the tchotchke sales decline. "The Tchotchke Index is a measure of the fluff in America's household budgets. It is pure impulse spending, and the first item cut when times get tough," wrote blogger Cheryl Russell, a demographer and the editorial director of New Strategist Publications.
Has your tchotchke spending declined? What erstwhile essentials have you abandoned in these tough times? Share your thoughts with other readers by posting a comment below.—Cyndi Schoenbrun | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook
Knick knacks should be the least of our concerns. There is a ton of Americans who legitamately need to get back into their apartments and down size. My spending hasn't changed a bit because I have always lived under my means. Americans as a whole have gotten used to the concept of acquiring more more more and having the most lavish lifestyle possible with the incomes they have instead of just focusing on what they need to be content. Most of the people driving around in new Lexus' and BMW's should honestly be driving a Civic or a Cobalt. Just because your income may make it possible for you to own a newer, 3000 Sq foot home doesn't mean you can actually afford it, nor that you need it. I am tired of people boo hooing about being broke and losing their homes that they never should have owned in the first place. If you didn't read the closing package you signed when you bought the house then you get what you deserve. Quit blaming the banks for your complacency. We all want the "American dream" however it doesn't mean that all of us have done the work or saved the money to actually achieve it. America has become the land of thirty thousand dollar a year millionaires. This period of time in the economy is just natures way of balancing the scales again and bringing common sense back... hopefully.
... but back to the point of the article. I think that the Tchotchke index being down 33% is a GREAT sign. That means that the people who are buying these items now are the people who can AFFORD them! There were way too many people who bought bigger or more lavish homes than they could actually afford or people who never should have owned homes at all. Nonetheless these people never should have had all of this space to buy knick knacks for in the first place so the fact that sales of these items is down is promising.
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