A brief talk on how the roles of consumers and producer balance and shift in the US economy. Given to a high school class on January 23rd, 2015.

1. Our Economy: How It
Works, What It Provides
Alex Gustafson
January 23rd, 2015

2. Our Economy: Everything
Works Together (Except
When It Doesn’t)
Alex Gustafson
January 23rd, 2015

3. Who Am I?
• BSBA in Marketing from the University of Louisville
• Since 2010 worked for mobile software, digital media & advertising, and
web development
• Currently working for Automattic, makers of WordPress.com
• Host trivia nights locally
• These slides available at alexjgustafson.wordpress.com/economy

4. Who Am I, again?

5. Why am I here?
To share the good news. :)
“When you grow up you tend to get told the
world is the way it is and you're life is just to live
your life inside the world. Try not to bash into
the walls too much. Try to have a nice family,
have fun, save a little money. That's a very
limited life. Life can be much broader once you
discover one simple fact: Everything around you
that you call life was made up by people that
were no smarter than you and you can change
it, you can influence it, you can build your own
things that other people can use. Once you
learn that, you'll never be the same again.”
Steve Jobs

6. Nothing is Official
Government is a factor in any economy, not its creator (except when it is)
Consumers must demand and purchase (except when they don’t)
Producers must create and supply (or else)
There is always room for innovation, and everyone must accept change

7. Consumers
• In today’s US economy, two-thirds of our nation’s total economic output
consists of goods and services bought by individuals and households for
personal use.
• Of that spending, about 80% is necessities like housing, utilities, food,
healthcare, and clothing.
• The other end of it? “The Paradox of Thrift”

8. Producers
If it adds value or helps to keep value moving, it’s a producer:
• Workers and Employees
• Managers
• Investors
• Brokers
• Entrepreneurs

9. Signals
• Credit (consumer debt) and savings
• The Consumer Price Index
• Porter’s Five Forces helps suppliers (more on that in a second)
• Employment and Productivity

10. Productivity
• People
• Capital
• Technology
• Organization
• Government Regulation
• Working environment

11. Balance

12. Innovation and
Entrepreneurship

13. Porter’s Five Forces
nsed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elements_of_Industry_S

14. Parting Thoughts
• Your consumer behavior impacts your productivity far more than the
signals of consumers as a whole
• Be more than one kind of producer
• Never take any expert’s claim on the economy at face value

15. Question?
These slides available at alexjgustafson.wordpress.com/economy