We notice you are visiting from a U.S. Internet provider. 
30/08/2011 -
If there's just one benefit to emerge from the global economic downturn, it's likely to be a more frugal population. While more savings and less debt are bad for credit markets, it may mean less financial trouble for consumers.According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, U.S. household debt has plummeted by more than $1 trillion since 2008. Credit card balances are low, as are delinquency rates, and even businesses are sitting on their cash - an estimated $2 trillion worth.
USA Today reports the personal savings rate, which measures the amount of disposable income Americans save, reached 5 percent in July, nearly quadruple the level in 2005.
But this spells trouble for an economy that relies so heavily on consumer spending, and many analysts argue that the increased frugality is merely a protective measure, as opposed to a genuinely fiscal one.
"The longer the economic situation stays difficult, the more entrenched these behaviors will become," Peter Aykens, managing director of the Corporate Executive Board, told USA Today. "I believe we are seeing austerity mindsets deepening within U.S. consumers."
