Do you feel people who are saving their disposable income are being unpatriotic?

[RB TexLa]

I've seen more than a couple of posts saying people need to spend their money to help the economy.

[vadawg]

1. its their money to dispose of as they see fit.

personally my spending habits havent changed to much as im pretty tight when it comes to myself, but i am buying property as and when i can.

[TexasObserver]

2. Savings are critical to having a sound banking system.

[Occam Bandage]

3. No. Saving is necessary for long-term economic stability. nt

[lindisfarne]

4. If we didn't have an economy based on ridiculous levels of consumption to begin with, the current

level of consumption might be considered "normal" (or possibly "excessive").

Buying & selling is viewed by economists as important because they mainstream economists first and foremost represent the interests of corporations. They don't put anywhere near as much emphasis on effects of their policies on the workers, on society, or on the environment.

There is more than one way to have a healthy economy (and economy can be defined somewhat differently than mainstream economists currently define it) and healthy society.

[omega minimo]

5. Do you feel Right Wing memes are basis for polls on DU?

[emilyg]

6. Heck NO

[Versailles]

7. I'm no economist but...

Wouldn't saving be the smartest move at the moment for anyone with a little extra? I mean the only reason my wife and I still have a home after a year of me being unemployed is because she knows how to save money. In an economy as bad as this, who knows if your job will still be there tomorrow and not having a savings to rely on for help is asking for problems.

[ProfessorGAC]

16. Micro, Yes. Macro, No

For the person, it would be best. For the whole, many people with discretionary income saving instead of spending is unhealthy.

However, it's their money and people can spend it or not spend it as they see fit.

GAC

[notesdev]

18. Bring that assertion over to the economics dept.

don't be surprised if they laugh you out of the building.

Savings is always economically healthy. Not necessarily always good for Goldman Sachs, but for the saver it is very good, and for the economy as a whole it is very good. This, and not by accumulation of debt, is how capital should be formed.

[ProfessorGAC]

20. Whatever

When you've gotten three papers published in macroeconomics, let me know.

Savings is not always good for the macroeconomy. There is not one shred of evidence to support that assertion.

Consumption is the driver in any capitalist economy. There is no velocity of money if it's not spent. If there's lesser spending, the production side suffers as the demand falls.

This is simple, really. That you don't see it is on you.
GAC

[notesdev]

21. Credit bubble economics

lies in the disreputable tatters it has well earned.

Without savings you can only obtain capital through debt. Accumulate enough debt and you need to borrow to pay interest on the debt, leading to a credit death spiral.

Got any links to these alleged macroeconomics papers of yours?

[ProfessorGAC]

22. Not For You

You couldn't possibly understand the mathematics involved.

You're a know-nothing tool. I have no use for you.
GAC

[notesdev]

28. You're a liar

I'm an engineer. I knew more math at the end of my freshman year in college than economists learn over a lifetime.

You are clearly resorting to insult for lack of substance, not as a mere preference.

[ashling]

8. Some people have disposable income????

Why don't I know these people? :shrug:

[PSzymeczek]

27. Our income is disposed of

through rent, utilities, and food.

[LostInAnomie]

9. It is a financial plan that we as a whoole should have undertaken decades ago.

Instead of willingly throwing our cash away on wasteful and unnecessary expenditures, or shoveling it into the troughs of rapacious stock brokers, we should have been ensuring our own financial well-being. We've been far too willing to freely spend or indebt ourselves in the past. It's about time we learned to be responsible.

[Vidar]

10. No.

[eilen]

11. I think saving is patriotic.

Now, the trouble is finding a safe place to put it. Banks are not trustworthy institutions. I worry about credit unions becoming the next S&L's. Since I still have a mortgage, I am stuck with my bank for now. Plus the interest on savings makes saving a "losing" proposition. However, we need to save for the future. My husband may likely not have a job in the Fall and who knows if there will be any work for the winter? My son is in his last 2 years of high school and we'd like to get him through college without graduating with lots of debt and give him a real start in life.

Purchasing to benefit multinationals who make low quality products in sweatshop conditions in China and other Asian countries-- how does that help our country? It just creates more trash for the landfill and degrades the environment. Your just making money for wealthy investors, not for "our country". Granted, many of our pensions are invested but I have no confidence any of that will be left for my generation.

When the US stops funding multinational crooks like AIG, I might consider being patriotic again and purchase US Savings Bonds. In the meantime, I'll just continue saving to prevent becoming a burden on the system.

[TexasObserver]

12. 43-0 is impressive.

[sendero]

13. No.

.... I think the idiots who were spending money they didn't have were unpatriotic.

[and-justice-for-all]

14. It s more important to keep a roof over your head rather than

shitting what money you do have anyway on worthless crap you do not even need.

Just by going to the store for food, is helping the economy, buying Gas and buying you utility bills..etc

[ProfessorGAC]

15. My Wife And I Do

So, no.

I don't intend to spend every penny and then have to work until i die.
GAC

[HillbillyBob]

17. What disposable income?!

We had savings until a year of unemployment and me being disabled. With much lower income we are now just paycheck to paycheck, (not like were were making a big income before) and trying to figure out how to do car and house repairs on nothing extra above making the regular bills. We don't buy junk we don't need, but on the other hand we need tools and such for our little farm. We save, buy a piece and pay it off. Only putting a little on credit for things we just have to have. I have not bought jeans in so long I am about to be nekid. I wrote to and told Levis when they left town to move the plant from Greensboro to Mexico that I would not buy from them since they took 300+ jobs out of the local economy, and those were generational jobs done by folks that actually made the products that made Levi Strauss.
Their answer was 'we have to take care of the shareholders, I wrote a stronger note. same to Wranglers who did the same thing the following year.

I have been doing my best to buy local or at least made in USA products.
Since our employer owners seem to want slave labor there is not much we make here anymore.

[omega minimo]

24. Great post. Somebody had to say it!

All of it. And pickin up on the Levi's story, they left their original Gold Rush home in San Francisco too!!

How rural are you? Do you avail yourselves of Craigslist, barter, secondhand, etc.?

[bemildred]

26. Well yeah, that too.

You screw the public long enough and expertly enough, they have no disposable income, so it matters little what they do with their non-existent disposable income.

[DailyGrind51]

19. They are just being smart.

[bemildred]

23. Pissing all your extra money away is very unprofitable.

Why is this even a question that needs to be answered? When did it become the norm for people to screw themselves to help out corporations?

[omega minimo]

25. Apparently when Bushco said so. And Reaganomics depended on Conspicuous Consumption to kill

eventually the economic Goose that laid the Golden Egg.

[Obamanaut]

29. I think it is inappropriate to feel people regardless of what they

do with their disposable income.

I feel angry, sometimes I feel tired, from time to time I feel hungry - but I avoid feeling people.

[Liberal_in_LA]

30. A few years ago there were all these stories about how Americans don't save enough

Now we are saving