Book: In Cheap We Trust

In CHEAP We Trust: The Story of a Misunderstood American Virtue

http://www.amazon.com/CHEAP-We-Trust-Mis...

What does it mean to be cheap? When is it mature to stow money away and when is it miserly, even Scrooge-like? And how might Americans navigate the economic downturn in an era when everything seems disposable and when credit has felt dangerously unlimited? In answering these questions, IN ...

I just finished reading this book minutes ago. Took me more than half a year to achieve that. I was hoping it would offer another ray of insight on American consumerism. When and how would they deny themselves for their future sake.

There are actually many frugal people in America. So those who had over spent must have done so quite far beyond the aggregated average. Thrift is alive in America but you have to be on the ground to see it. Forget about economic reports and statistics which hide important details.

Sure it doesn't look likely, but there is a good chance the Americans will eventually make the consumption/savings adjustments needed to steer themselves away from their unsustainable past habits. It is to their history we much glean what their future might be like. When they can no longer afford to consume, they will learn to be thrifty and conserve. They have been there repeatedly.

It is one thing for China to catch up with America, and quite another to overtake and lead the world.

If you want to lead and renew yourself constantly, you need nonconformists. Frugal people are nonconformists because they don't care to look good or be accepted by others. They are supremely confident about their ways.