Thrift

Our newly released report on thrift in the United States has gotten some good play in the media but has also sparked internal and external debate, domestically and internationally, on the importance of savings and thrift relative to credit and consumption. The report advocates a culture of thrift and a renewed focus on savings (as opposed to our current focus on credit and culture of indebtedness). As a team, the Asset Building program promotes these goals and others heavily in our domestic work as well as internationally through the Global Assets Project.

In true blogger fashion, I've brought my laptop along to a conference we are co-hosting today on Confronting the Debt Culture.

It is a pretty compelling gathering for a couple of reasons. First off, the idea behind the conference is to raise the profile of the concept of thrift and all of the anti-thrift institutions that now prevade our culture. Secondly, the conference is sponsored by a really diverse set of organizations. It has been spreaheaded by the Institute for American Values, a group lead by David Blackenhorn which has mainly been known for its work promoting marriage. In recent years David has become a champion of thrift and has teamed up with other groups such as Demos, Consumer Federation of America, Public Agenda, and others.