Waffle

Two more articles that caught my fancy: A letter from Iceland at the Financial Times online. Everyone on my reading list seems to have been linking to that today. It's a long explanation of the economic city in Iceland. Iceland is probably the miner's canary for the coming recession in that it'll define the limits of how bad things are going to get, and reach those limits a few months before everyone else. Right now, it's pretty bad, but not riots in the streets-level bad.

Retailers feel Pinch of Returns at the New York Times. What strikes me about this is that consumers still aren't getting it even when they believe they do:

More forgiving policies may be good news for Ms. Kakouris, the real estate agent in Miami. From time to time, pangs of conscience have caused her to regret a purchase before she has even stepped out of the store. “I’ll be on the escalator, and already I’m thinking, ‘I can’t do this,’ ” she said. Returning such items is a matter of principle, and also a matter of pride, she said. “It’s self-control — that’s a positive thing, isn’t it?” Ms. Kakouris added. “At any rate, I’m clearing off my guilt.”

Impulse-buying items and then returning it is not self-control. If you can't afford to buy stuff, keep your money in your pocket, instead of shafting the retailer with the extra cost of dealing with the return. Buyer-protection laws are for when an item is defective or you've been pressured into buying it, not for when you want the thrill of shopping without the consequences.

And the practice of "Wardrobing" mentioned in the article? Just don't get me started. (via)