Research connecting consumer spending with a lack of productivity?

Hi -- I'm writing a research paper and I'd like to do it on producitivity in North America.





Specifically, rising consumer spending on non-productive products/services (video games, fancy watch straps, birthday cards, golf balls) -- although measured as GDP growth -- is actually a drain on the economy. Ie. if we shifted all our production to making better golf balls, in the end, we'd only have lower golf scores, but if we shifted all of our economy to making energy, in the end we might have very cheap energy, which is more useful than lower golf scores.





Does this ring a bell for anyone? Is there an existing line of research around this, or someone involved in it?

Research connecting consumer spending with a lack of productivity?
Just about every economist would argue that we should let the market decide how to allocate production decisions, unless there is some market distortion. What distortions do you see?





Shifting our production to making energy would make energy cheaper, but then we would have to give up something. What would that be? Also, isn't energy is too cheap! Isn't there too much pollution from our consumption of energy?