Is It Anti-American To Save Vs. Spend?
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Clearly, this holiday season we’re seeing slower retail sales then our country has experienced in years. With the economy in a tailspin and the news headlines filled with job cuts, people simply aren’t out buying in full force. Recently I’ve heard many comments that it’s “Un-American” to avoid the malls this season; I have to ask doesn’t this go against everything that is American?
When did we loose sight of the American dream that involved the prudence of saving money? There’s little doubt that a slowdown in consumer spending is contributing to the recession that’s wreaking havoc on the economy, however the lack of responsible spending habits significantly contributed to causing the problem. A few weeks ago I asked the question “Is Our Country Made Of Funny Money?“, detailing how the last 5-10 years have been booming economic times and asking if it’s all been at the hand of credit. Perhaps it’s a good thing that consumers aren’t spending wildly this holiday season. Wouldn’t it be a good thing for our country if people began to save, stop spending beyond their means, and built up a nest egg?
There’s little doubt consumer sales will slump in the immediate future and many companies will suffer from lower earnings. There’s no doubt that this will cause economic pain; perhaps the mind set going from spending to saving is just what we need to prevent an economic event like this from happening again in the future.
What do you think, is it Anti-American to Save versus Spend?
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5 Comments on this post
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Wise Money Matters said:
It would seem so, but I guess that makes me anti-American. I would rather go against the grain and refuse to do my part in boosting the economy over getting into more and more debt. No thanks.
December 11th, 2008 at 1:01 pm -
Miranda said:
The disconnect between what is good for the economy and what is good for individual finances in this country has become rather pointed, unfortunately. We’ve reached a point where what keeps the economy going (debt-fueled consumerism) is the complete opposite of what is financial prudent on a personal level. What would be patriotic is to shift to an economy that is more stable (though less “impressive” in terms of growth), and one that recognizes natural economic cycles and does strive for constant growth that is in actuality unsustainable.
December 12th, 2008 at 7:53 am -
Brent said:
It does seem like spending is the American way right now, but I can’t help but wonder why that is. We work so hard to have what we want, but we’re not helping ourselves if we’re not saving for ourselves and our futures.
December 12th, 2008 at 8:57 am -
Chris said:
A very interesting question… Being a frugal economist, I am torn between putting my money back into the economy to help keep things moving, but also am trying to save up. Especially with the stock market prices so deflated, all I want to do is buy in while it is low. I would say that it is not anyone’s duty to their country to spend money right now, and I’m glad that people have finally broken out of the trend of living beyond their means. However, the trend to not spend anything has caught on just as as the trend to overspend.
On the other hand, there are a lot of sales and great deals that are available to those who are able to spend some money, and I think that if you’ve been saving up and waiting to make a big purchase now might be a great time.
Good question Justin
December 12th, 2008 at 9:54 am -
Justin said:
I agree that we need to focus less on growth just for the sake of growth. Growing a company doesn’t make any sense if it isn’t sustainable.
December 16th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
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