But isn’t the essence of business about driving down costs and boosting value/profits?
Paying less for the same good/service only increases consumption capacity, not diminishes it.
That is different from average people consuming as little as possible, buying second-hand goods, and withdrawing into a kind of economic shell.
The kind of cost cutting that produces real savings and progress at the same time comes from innovation, not from contraction. When the economy is expanding, wealth increases.