We’re in the holiday shopping season now, and we hope and pray that retailers do better than expected. 

Economists say that consumers make our economy work, but I never liked the term “consumer society.” At the end of the day, I’d rather be known for what I produce than for what I consume. Would you rather be known for your iPod, or for your last successful project at work? Would you rather be remembered for the home you bought, or for the children you raised? And which has more value?

An economy is made up of people. And, yes, people consume. But most of us spend a lot more of our time and energy producing than we do consuming. Still, it's easier to measure how much we spend than the value of what we produce. That's why so many economists and politicians design economic policy around our spending habits, instead of our productive habits -- think of those rebate checks that were supposed to cure our ills last summer. 

Politicians need to spend less time thinking about how to get Americans to consume and more time thinking about how to make it easier for Americans to produce.

Don't get us wrong, we hope folks shop till they drop this holiday season. But politicians can’t drag consumers into retail shops. And they can’t force Americans to use their rebate checks to shop, either. But they can make it easier for retail shops by lowering their taxes and regulations to keep their costs down. 

This economy needs consumption. But it’s our producers who need help the most. A nation just of consumers would be a nation of sheep, and we are much more than that

And that’s the Final Score.