Negative consequences of the law of growing needs and ways to overcome them

Abstract

The relevance of the article is caused by the lack of due attention to the law of growing needs. The article aims to show that the law can have negative consequences and to determine ways to overcome them. In the process of realizing this goal, systematic and historical approaches, methods of analysis and synthesis, and expert evaluations available in the literature were used. The content of the law of growing needs is a constant process of development and expansion of existing and the emergence and multiplication of new needs, which occurs in the course of the development of production and men and their imagination, causes quantitative and qualitative changes in the structure of consumption, and advances production. It also improves the existing ways to satisfy the needs and generates new ones. The article shows that in the process of the law of growing needs implementation, there are some phenomena indicating that this process also leads to negative changes in the system of consumer needs, in particular, to a steady expansion of the range of irrational needs, a certain mental infantilization of consumers, excessive credit indebtedness of the population, growth of individual and social frustration, and the emergence of the phenomenon of "consumer alienation". The emergence of an orientation towards the paradigm of balanced consumption is the reaction to the mentioned and other negative consequences of the growth of needs. It corresponds to some models of consumer behaviour, the main of which include ethical consumption, the greening of consumption, joint consumption, dematerialization of consumption, and conscious participation of the population in the consumption restrictions. The contents of these models are revealed. The controversy of the opinion regarding the fact that the range of consumer behaviour models corresponding to the paradigm of balanced consumption includes the active participation of consumers in the production of goods is emphasized. The definition of state consumer policy is formulated as the state policy aimed at the creation of favourable conditions for the saturation of the consumer market with high-quality and safe goods (works, services), regulation of the size, structure, and development trends of consumption by individuals, households, social groups, and the whole society, and improvement of the levels of consumer education and protection of consumer rights, health, and safety.