The Kinks’ “Low Budget”
by Jeffrey Rubin, PhD
Welcome to From Insults to Respect.
This week, I spent an evening listening to some of my favorite songs from the Kinks, a British rock band that had several great hits beginning in the mid-1960s. Brothers Ray Davies (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and Dave Davies (lead guitar, vocals) remained members throughout the group’s 32-year run. One of the songs, “Low Budget,” released in 1979 when inflation was over 13%, brought me back to a time when I was really financially strapped. And then I realized that although our most recent bout with inflation, due largely from the pandemic, has moderated, many of us are still mighty upset at current prices. So, to offer some empathy with our shared frustration, and to throw some light on dealing with money woes, I’m thinking it might be useful to discuss the Kinks’ song’s lyrics.
An early part of the song has Ray Davies telling us,
Circumstance has forced my hand
To be a cut price person in a low-budget land
Times are hard but we’ll all survive
I just got to learn to economize
I’m on a low budget
I’m on a low budget
I’m not cheap, you understand
I’m just a cut price person in a low-budget land
Here, we see Ray recognizing these times are indeed hard, but we’ll get through by economizing. However, economizing raises for Ray the concern that people will begin to lose respect for him, thinking he’s cheap. He repeats this concern when he tells us later in the song,
Money’s rare, there’s none to be found
So don’t think I’m tight if I don’t buy a round
Some of the economizing for Ray can be down right painful, utilizing the metaphors of too tight shoes and pants:
Excuse my shoes they don’t quite fit
They’re a special offer and they hurt me a bit
Even my trousers are giving me pain
They were reduced in a sale so I shouldn’t complain
They squeeze me so tight so I can’t take no more
They’re size 28 but I take 34
Now, the next part of the song gets to be fun for the audience, as Ray sings,
I’m on a low budget
What did you say
I’m on a low budget
I thought you said thatI’m on a low budget
I’m a cut price person in a low-budget land
When Ray sings, “I’m on a low budget,” the crowd sings the words with him. Ray encourages them, by calling out, “What did you say?” and then taking the mic he’s holding and stretching his arm out with it toward the audience, and the audience now all join in, singing “I’m on a low budget.” A sense of a shared community of all those going through these tight times is wonderfully created, and the audience loves it. The lyrics return to these lines several more times throughout the song with the audience enthusiastically joining in.
A few other lines that we can relate to are,
I’m shopping at Woolworths and low discount stores
I’m dropping my standards so that I can buy moreQuality costs, but quality wastes
So I’m giving up all of my expensive tastes
Caviar and champagne are definite “no”s
I’m acquiring a taste for brown ale and cod roesLow budget sure keeps me on my toes
I count every penny and I watch where it goes
I’m on a low budget
What did you say
Yea I’m on a low budget
I thought you said that
I’m on a low budget
I’m a cut price person in a low-budget landMoney’s rare, there’s none to be found
So don’t think I’m tight if I don’t buy a round….
I might look like a tramp, but don’t write me off
I’ll have you all know, I was once on top
At least my hair is all mine, my teeth are my own
But everything else is on permanent loan
Once all my clothes were made by hand
Now I’m a cut price person in a low-budget land
I’m on a low budget
I’ll have you all know
We’re on a low budget….
Some Thoughts
Dr. Jeffrey Rubin
I’m old enough to have seen some major ups and down in our economy. As a result, I’m quite hopeful that when there is a disturbing dip, things will get better. The over 13% inflation rate when “Low Budget” was a hit, eventually we went down to a more manageable 2%. We had the Great Recession at the end of the Bush administration, and during the Obama administration, the economy got back on its feet. We are already seeing signs that the economy is returning to better times, though prices at the supermarket remain hard to bear.
I do think that we would be wise to not set ourselves to rely on a solid economy to bring us the wellbeing we desire. Such a life is way too often unsustainable. It is also too shallow. We are better off, I think, to seek deeper meaning in the life we have been given, including learning that emotional suffering is part of life that can deepen our search for more sustainable meaning, rather than signs of mental illness requiring just the right pill to a happier life. Finding ways to support the common good, and learning to enhance our dearest relationships will get us together through periods of anguish, sadness, and tears.
For me, one of the saddest parts of these types of downturns is the bitter blaming of incumbent presidents. 
When “Low Budget” was a hit for the Kinks back in 1979, Jimmy Carter was the president. The hatred directed at him because of economic woes seemed to me unjust. He was a very intelligent, kind human being who deeply cared for his country. He did his best under hard times that in no way could be attributed to him. Despite this, the hate kept pouring in.
The economists I have read, having had time to digest the factors that led to that period of inflation, have concluded that that period of inflation began well before Carter took office, and seems to have been strongly connected with President Nixon halting the exchange of dollars for gold by foreign central banks, and Arab members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) placing an embargo on the U.S. for its support of Israel in the Yom Kippur War.
The connection between the George W. Bush presidential administration and the “Great Recession” is considerably stronger than the economic downturn during Carter’s administration. Bush advocated for banking deregulations along with getting into two needless wars, both significant factors that led to the recession. However, I hasten to point out that a majority in congress, who were elected by a majority of the American voters, supported what Bush called for. Because we have a government of the people, by the people, for the people, if we want to get into the blaming game there is plenty of blame to distribute all around.
As for our current inflation woes, the Biden administration came into office at the height of the pandemic, which led to inflation not only in the US, but throughout the world. Russia’s attack in Ukraine that led to grain shortages was another significant factor. Blaming the president strikes me as the height of unfairness. To get through this challenging time, rather than wasting our energy on hateful blaming, we would do far better, it seems to me, if we as a nation, take responsibility for learning what we can do better in the future, economize till the economy improves, and in the words of another Kinks song, “Better Things,”
Here’s wishing you the bluest sky
And hoping something better comes tomorrow
Hoping all the verses rhyme
And the very best of choruses to
Follow all the doubt and sadness
I know that better things are on the way
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Some people will enjoy reading this blog by beginning with the first post and then moving forward to the next more recent one; then to the next one; and so on. This permits readers to catch up on some ideas that were presented earlier and to move through all of the ideas in a systematic fashion to develop their emotional and social intelligence. To begin at the very first post you can click HERE.
I’m wondering. The Federal Reserve has tightened credit with its own measures and instruments. But why did the Biden government counter the effect of these measures by injecting liquidity through programs called Bidenomics? Isn’t this a ship with two captains who each handle their rudders in opposite directions? I don’t know. Perhaps it would have been better to let the Fed’s bitter medicine act as early as possible.
Hi Luc Thibaud, good to hear from you.
I don’t know if we can ever know for certain if it would have been better to rely just on the Fed’s “bitter medicine.” As I understand it, the Fed’s increased interest rates made it more expensive to lend money country wide, which it was hoped would reduce some spending by large numbers of people. With less people spending on goods, this would reduce the demand for these good, thus lowering inflation–greater demand leads to higher inflation. In the meantime, if the government spends money, rather than people, some specific segments of the population can benefit without, it is hoped, hurting too much of the effort to curtail spending by the larger segment of the population.
For example, consider the segment of people who were unemployed when Biden took office. The bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden in November 2021 designated $1.2 trillion for investment in repairing and building roads, bridges, and rail lines, providing clean drinking water and access to high-speed internet, aiming to reduce the impact of the climate crisis, creating a national network of electric vehicle charging stations, and more. At the same time, over a million jobs were created. Also at the same time, all of those folks who already had jobs (which constitutes far more people than who didn’t have jobs), are being effected by the increase cost of borrowing thus the vast majority of people are under pressure to borrow less, thus reducing their spending. Consequently, citizens get improved infrastructure, more people are working, the government spends less of its resources on social services for unemployed folks, while there remains pressure by the larger population to spend less. Overall, those who got jobs clearly are better off. The Biden administration believed this was a worthwhile tradeoff and convinced a majority of bipartisan congressional folks to agree.
My best,
Jeff
Thank you for explaining your opinion about how the economic and financial mechanics were impacted by these government policies.