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At one of several concerts in Europe by the American rock sensation Bruce Springsteen, 30,000 enraptured youths wear jeans and T-shirts bearing the names of American universities, states, and products. At their feet are thousands of empty Coca-Cola bottles. Spr ....

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.... preserve the distinctive European culture. The emergence of consumerism in postwar Europe coincided with a substantial growth in personal and disposable income. In France, for example, wages rose more rapidly than the cost of living during the 1950s, leading to a sharp increase in purchase power (Bédarida 108). Consumption was additionally stimulated by an expansion of credit and by people’s willingness to go into debt to buy what they wanted. Similar developments occurred in Britain, Italy, and especially West Germany (11). As a result, Europeans began to spend their money on such “luxuries” as new furniture, electrical appliances, crystal ....