Art & Design

Beyond Our Means: Why America Spends While the World Saves

2 November 2011, London

If the financial crisis has taught us anything, it is that Americans save too little, spend too much, and borrow excessively. What can we learn from East Asian and European countries that have fostered enduring cultures of thrift over the past two centuries? Beyond our Means tells for the first time how other nations aggressively encouraged their citizens to save by means of special savings institutions and savings campaigns. The US government, meanwhile, promoted mass consumption and reliance on credit, culminating in the global financial meltdown.

Many economists believe people save according to universally rational calculations, saving the most in their middle years as they plan for retirement, and saving the least in welfare states. In reality, Europeans save at high rates despite generous welfare programs and ageing populations. Americans save little, despite weaker social safety nets and a younger population. Tracing the development of such behaviours across three continents from the nineteenth century to today, this book highlights the role of institutions and moral suasion in shaping habits of saving and spending. It shows how the encouragement of thrift was not a relic of indigenous traditions but a modern movement to confront rising consumption. Around the world, messages to save and spend wisely confronted citizens everywhere–in schools, magazines and novels. At the same time, in America, businesses and government normalized practices of living beyond one’s means.

Transnational history at its most compelling, Beyond Our Means reveals why some nations save so much and others so little.

Biography: Sheldon Garon is the Nissan Professor of History and East Asian Studies at Princeton University. His books include Molding Japanese Minds: The State in Everyday Life (Princeton) and The State and Labor in Modern Japan.

The event is free and open to the public. No booking is required.

Contact email: events@soas.ac.uk

2 November 2011, 6:30pm

School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
Khalili Lecture Theatre, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG

The Japan Society, Japan Reserach Centre, SOAS

 
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