Don't we all want a discount? Yes, we do, says Ellen Ruppel Shell, but too often we overlook what the "everyday low prices" consumer ethic costs us all in the end. The Boston University journalism professor and Atlantic contributing editor explores how discount shopping is not always a bargain in her acclaimed recent book, Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture.

How do you convince people suffering through economic hard times that bargain hunting is not good for them?

There's nothing really mysterious about it. It's something our grandparents taught us, the notion that, "I'm too poor to be cheap." It means if we are price-directed – that if our first thing, or our main thing, is trying to get a good deal – then we can become distracted from value, and we end up spending a lot more for a lot less. We mistake low price per se for value, when price should only be one part of the calculation. This pursuit of high-volume, low-quality merchandise has led to a whole list of problems that I think have contributed to our current recessionary environment, including the employment problem. It's a vicious cycle we'd all do well to reconsider.

Wal-Mart is the usual villain in books like yours, but instead, you went after IKEA. Why?

IKEA's marketing plan is to make the store seem like a paragon of virtue, you know, that Scandinavian ideal of hard work and fairness. People shop at IKEA for good reason – the store offers great design – but its allure is also driven by a myth that IKEA has worked and spent assiduously to put out about itself. If you really stop to think about how a night table can cost $49.99 you know it involves low-wage labor, questionable environmental practices and disposability – which itself is something we really can't afford anymore. But those aren't the kinds of things we think about when we think about IKEA.

Why do you say we're not as free as we think regarding shopping choices?

People have this idea that discount stores increase their choice, but in fact, discounters are highly constrained by price. They will only buy what's manufactured and sold in bulk, and only from suppliers that will offer them the lowest prices. At discount stores, you can't make a real comparison, because you're not looking at a high-quality vs. low-quality product. You're looking at one low-priced object vs. another low-priced object.

And the psychology of this has to do with discounts being an end unto themselves. The thrill of making that great buy is really what you're going for when you're looking for discounts. Often that distracts you from asking the question, "What is this object? Is it really going to work for me? Is it what I really want?"

Household goods cost a lot less today as a percentage of household income than they did 30 or 40 years ago, but despite that savings, we're just not getting ahead. How can that be?

Food, electronics, clothing in particular – and in absolute terms, we're even spending less than we once did for automobiles. However, the price of things we can't live without, like health care and education, taxes and child care, has skyrocketed. To pay for these necessities, we took money out of our homes. So, the low price of consumer goods has been paid for in part by our stagnant or declining wages and benefits, because everybody down the supply chain is taking a hit to provide these low-cost goods, whether in job security or income or both.

You describe the problem well in Cheap, but what's the solution?

I believe knowledge is power. The first step is awareness that the low-price goods we're used to aren't necessarily benefiting us in the long run, or even in the short run. The second step is to make demands of retailers and manufacturers. Right now, we don't expect durability, we don't expect longevity, we don't even expect that the product will work for us. We could tell retailers we won't stand for cheap, shoddy goods. We made that demand in the automobile industry, and automobiles have improved dramatically.

Any Christmas shopping tips?

Rather than loading the shopping cart with lots of stuff at the discount store, think about buying one good thing for each friend or relative – something that will be enjoyed, remembered and valued.

This Q&A was conducted, condensed and edited by Dallas Morning News editorial columnist Rod Dreher; his e-mail address is rdreher@dallasnews.com. Ellen Ruppel Shell can be contacted through www.ellenruppelshell.com.