A new form of creative economic protest is popping up around the nation, collectively called “Cash Mobs,” wherein groups of people band together to spend money at a small, local business in one sporadic event.
The website states “The general idea is to encourage people to go into small, local businesses and spend their money, en masse, to give the business owner a little bit of economic stimulus.” It’s an admirable young movement with potential.
As a person who relies heavily on small businesses to get my essentials — one does not simply shop at Safeway or Fred Meyer with no car — this new trend has me excitedly waiting for Eugene to hop on the bandwagon.
“As kind and generous as these cash mobs can be, they should have no bearing on longer-term outcomes for recipients,” University associate economics professor Glen Waddell said.@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=staff&d=person&b=name&s=Glen+Waddell@@ “If, by chance, they arrive at a pivotal moment for a small business, there can certainly be much benefit that comes from them.”
Currently, Cash Mobs are more of an attitude adjustment than a fiscal one. They make the consumer participating feel accomplished. The movement is so small and new, however, that participants realize they are only facilitating short-term effects.
Imagine being a local shop owner, most likely struggling following the recession and the more frugal habits of current Americans, when one day, without warning, your shop sees a boom of business for no apparent reason. Sure, it’s an inflated, superficial feeling of progress, but if it catches on, local businesses may garner new loyal customers who were just following a crowd.
The Cash Mobs website claims that these events aren’t meant to be “a political or social organization, a corporation (or) a movement,” but whether they like it or not, participants are engaging in a form of protest. The difference between this movement and, say, the Occupy movement is that protestors are using the same language as their “oppressors” — money. The Mobs interest me more for their unique strategy than for their ability to affect long-term change.
“Businesses large and small survive where there is sufficient value for the products they offer,” Waddell said. “There is no good substitute for this, which may or may not be unfortunate for society, I don’t know. The temporary shot in the arm of a Cash Mob is full of kindness and goodness. Surely there are benefits to society, but (they) can’t possibly work long term.”@@did he just compare Cash Mobs to a hit of heroin and then say there are benefits of it to society? worst analogy ever.@@
The best these mobs can do is bring attention to the issue, much like the Occupy movement. However, unlike the Occupy movement, participants are leading by example and not by occupation. In some areas, the two movements are merging while Occupy protestors are forming and joining Cash Mobs.
“Markets are tough for any small number of people to influence,” Waddell said. “So, what is the average person to do? One simple response is for that person to just continue to optimize according to his or her own preferences — buy where your value lies, essentially. That is what economists expect people to do. If local matters, pay the premium to buy local. If it doesn’t, buy from China.”
This trend has not caught on in Eugene yet, but I hope it will. Will Cash Mobs save the American mom-and-pop business? No.
Are they a fun and productive way to help advertise a local business and open it up for more long-term effects? You betcha.
Bouchat: Eugene needs Cash Mobs
Daily Emerald
February 24, 2012
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