Free Republic

There seems to be some natural cycle to the way societies, and even families, think about money - not seasonal, as Eric explains below, but epochal. It is not so much an economic cycle...as a moral one. At first, early in the cycle of wealth building, people are careful. They work hard and save as much as possible. Americans once saved 20% of their incomes. Even after WWII, they saved more than 10%. Now, in the degenerate phase of American capitalism, the figure for net national saving is less than 1%. The Chinese, apparently just setting out on the road...