Those Damn Penny Pinchers

The headline just below the fold in today's Wall Street Journal could have just as easily been a clip from The Onion:

Hard-Hit Families Finally Start Saving, Aggravating Nation's Economic Woes

The lede is features an Idaho couple that has recently reduced their credit card debt, opened a savings account, and cut back on taking their children out for dinner. They've even created something of a co-op with other families in purchasing bulk goods at what is presumably a nearby big box store.

For the economy, it's death by thrift.

But this same thriftiness, embraced by families across the U.S., is also a major reason the downturn may not soon end. Americans, fresh off a deacadeslong buying spress, are finally saving more, and spending less--just as the economy needs their dollars most.

Americans are not known for their frugality, at least not the last few generations following those who came of age in the Depression Era. I can tell stories of my grandfather, a Russian immigrant, who monitored the amount of toilet paper his children used and made them walk on the outer rim of the carpet so as not to wear out the main part. Serious stuff.

And while we're not going to see a return to that type of behavior any time soon, and while the no-money-downers will still suck in willing consumers who just don't have the longview to keep from spending beyond their means, the Idaho couple, the Capps, will likely represent a shift in American families. After all, with gas prices at their lowest point in years after hitting peak in Summer 2008, the auto companies are signalling their worst sales in decades, with Toyota showing a sales decline for the first time in its 70-year history.

Maybe, just maybe, Americans are getting the point, and this type of long-term, pragmatic spending will result in a lasting, sustainable economy -- one that is not based on debt.