Way to go America!!

[CGM]

I'd rather have it and need it than leave everything to chance.

Well yeah, me too, I was just pointing out the paradox. Like most paradoxes, there's no good solution. Anyways, it's no secret that consumer confidence is one of the bog unknowns in trying to navigate an economic recovery.

I agree it is interesting though, what is good for the individual is rarely good for the economy as a whole.

hmm. there's an interesting topic for debate. Have you ever read much by Ayn Rand? In particular her book The Fountainhead, in which the primary premise is that the economy as a whole is best served by everyone acting in his/her own best interest? (Maximizing their own utility). IMO she takes things a little too far, but there is a lot in what she says. In general I support capitalist principals and self interest as being in the best interest of the economy as a whole, but it isn't quite that simple, and I'm not sure how savings fits into all that.