In this week’s newsletter, ladies and gentlemen, we have research suggesting that sometimes it pays to stay micro.

Of course, it is unlikely that anyone else on the planet will interpret the findings that way.

Most analysts, looking at the research, will conclude that small wholesalers should discipline themselves to be more detached about the whole thing.

They should forget the pain of the manufacturers whose products they had been distributing. They should ignore the relationships they had developed with the owners of those companies, too.

Then, with their eyes firmly trained on the bottom line, small wholesalers can expand their network of manufacturers around the globe. That way, they will be able to buy at the lowest prices available.

That will allow them to continue to grow, no matter what the dollar is doing.

All of which brings up a fairly obvious notion: every business owner, at a certain point in the life of his or her business, must decide whether to pursue growth or sustainability.

Growth is the way of the 20th Century Rapacious Consumption Economy. In some circles, rumor has it that we are supposed to be trying to leave that stuff behind us, for the sake of our planet and for the sake of our household levels of indebtedness.

Sustainable is the way of the 21st Century Recently Conscientious Economy, the one that says it is possible for us to meet our material needs without rendering our planet uninhabitable and desirable for us each to have ‘enough’ and no more.

Still, I’ve heard a few strains of that old refrain lately: American citizens, to save the economy, we really need you to go out and spend some money.

Neither the politicians nor the economists seem to have accepted the parameters of the 21st century way of thinking about things, being steeped in conventional wisdom as they are. This will cause them to be very surprised when they begin to perceive its effects throughout the recovering economy.

When the economy recovers, that is. We’re in for a bumpy but amazing year or two.

The unfortunate thing about conventional wisdom is that it is, by definition, conventional. And that makes it less likely to be of any use if you happen to be living in extraordinary times.