Americans keep buying more stuff than ever

Early morning shopper
A shopper at a Wal-Mart store on the day after Thanksgiving last year, one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

Statistics show that Americans are consuming more goods for their households than ever before. Consumers are deciding that the goods on the shelves are must-haves.

Studies also show that Americans keep purchasing new products because we get tired of the things we buy faster than we used to.

Juliet Schor is a sociologist who studies the rapid increase in consumption in America.

MPR's family desk reporter Nanci Olesen asked professor Schor what has changed in the way that Americans consume products.