In the midst of serious declines in the stock market, asset values, and quality of life for many people, there is, I think, at least one silver lining: Americans have woken up and started saving some money!. Even though talking heads tell us that “now is the time when we need to spend to revive the economy”, I think this newfound penchant for saving is profoundly good news. An economy that defines success as squeezing more and more dollars from each consumer doesn’t appear to be the least bit sustainable.
(Perhaps I’m just mad that AT&T has the apparent mojo to, in the midst of a recession, raise the cost of my internet not once, but twice in the last six months. All this without doing, as far as I can tell, an ounce of work.)
Anyway, keep saving, I say.