Is the only solution to spend?

The other day I heard a discussion on NPR with some notable analysts talking about the economic mess the world’s in. One of them said something like, “One thing is clear, the ONLY way out of this situation is to spend our way out of it.”
Does anyone out there share a deep feeling of this being just about completely insane? Can’t we find a solution that’s not based in the production / consumption rat race? It’s a tall tall tall order to try to get people to think so completely far out of this box because it’s been the mantra of most of man kind for some 5000 years now, but is it not time to change this, for our own survival? Are there any people out there in leadership positions working on presenting viable scanario’s for world stability that don’t require humanity increased production and consumption? Or is the only option to buy ourselves to death?