Richard Florida on America’s ‘great reset’

Even though many economists are proclaiming the “Great Recession” is ending or over, the nearly 10 percent of Americans who are unemployed probably find it difficult to imagine exactly what a prosperous, post-recession America will look like. Richard Florida, author of “The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity,” says that’s because the crash has fundamentally altered how we feel about spending and saving. He says we’re all in the process of resetting the way we work and live.

We started the conversation by asking the question: Have you remade your life because of this recession?

Leslie writes on Facebook:

“You can’t help but to have made changes in the way we do everything. Hopefully, our children will carry the memories of this trying period of our history with them and learn from it.”

And Connie Rich Thames wrote, also on Facebook:

“Yes, we pushed the ‘reset’ button by not needing to find The Best (most expensive or most exclusive) items to buy. ‘On sale and good-enough’ is my new shopping attitude. Also, less tolerant of just throwing things away that I/we no longer want to keep. I put a lot more effort into finding creative ways to get rid of the ‘extra’ and we don’t rush to buy replacements! We make more meals at home and we have leftovers more often too! That is a huge switch in our house. It feels virtuous and healthy to make these adjustments. I don’t feel like such a big consumer hog with a piggyback debt monkey. Less stressed and thankful for continued employment.”