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The economy has no bearing on individual decisions to put immediate gratification ahead of financial planning and future risk mitigation.
Can't blame Republicans, Democrats, the economy, rich people, or the ghost of Elvis. It's individuals making bad decisions.
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The US people have never been particularly good at saving, compared to the rest of the developed world.
The square footage of new construction has nearly trebled since the 50’s despite a substantially smaller size of households. Guess we need the space for our stuff.
Look at the interiors of Nordic countries. They trend spartan compared to the typical US household. Stuff does not equal satisfaction.
Our economy depends on consumerism. Master Card was among the first to report their projection for retail sales during the critical 2019 holiday season- up 3.4% but the Grinch stole Christmas from brick and mortar retail stores.
Nearly every major brick and mortar retailer is expected to close underperforming stores in 2020. This impacts direct and indirect jobs. Nothing to do with politics and all to do with online sales.
Immediate gratification like food, medications, and shelter?
So says the narrative, but it is rarely if ever the truth.
Give the concrete example of the person who spends their money only on food, medication and shelter, and still cannot save $400 over some period of time. By all means. Give us the documented example of that. Until then, it is an appeal to emotion fantasy used for deflection.
The US people have never been particularly good at saving, compared to the rest of the developed world.
The square footage of new construction has nearly trebled since the 50’s despite a substantially smaller size of households. Guess we need the space for our stuff.
Look at the interiors of Nordic countries. They trend spartan compared to the typical US household. Stuff does not equal satisfaction.
Everything after that part of your post is making excuses and blame shifting. The bottom line - Americans are simply not good at saving.
That's it, that's all. In good economies or bad, we suck at saving, at least comparatively, since 60% of the country does have at least $400 for an emergency.
Delayed gratification is not an American habit, except among the financially secure and well adjusted segment of the country, as delayed gratification is a huge factor in achieving financial security. But that is all 100% personal behavior, not some phantasm of the culture.
It would be interesting to know what percent of Americans don't have $400 because they have nothing left after paying the rent, the electric bill, and the grocery store versus what percent of Americans don't have $400 because they have nothing left after paying $500 for a "designer cat," eating out twice a week at nice steakhouses and seafood restaurants, going on a cruise, paying for their manicures and pedicures, and going to the hair salon for the weekly blow-out.
Show me the study to support your claim. Otherwise, I will put your comment in the, "blame the victim and bury my head" category.
Show us the study where the majority of those who don't have $400 have not made any foolish or frivolous financial decisions and are in their current situation through absolutely no fault of their own.
Wait, so now you are going to credit the Republicans for the economy?
How is the gov regardless of party, to blame for people not saving? What you want the government to do, put a gun to people's head to save? Take a portion of their money each month by force and save?
I'm a liberal, but I have to agree that if an adult in the USA doesn't have $400 for an emergency, unless they are elderly/disabled/otherwise unable to work, going through medical treatments (and therefore have spent any extra funds on that) or have recently gone through some other type of major hardship, then the issue is most likely a conscious or unconscious decision (or, more likely, a long series of small decisions) to spend rather than save money.
I am going to guess that a lot less than 40 percent of Americans fit in one of those categories. Of those who don't, some might be struggling with past credit card debt, some might have grossly overspent on their house or car, some might have a Starbucks habit or a drinking habit or a weed habit, some might not understand how budgeting works, some might be lazy. Who knows? I think it's reasonable to assume that in any percentage of people "doing it wrong," some have what I'd consider a legitimate reason (sickness, inability to work, etc) and some don't. I don't think this is dependent on the economy or anything else, really... some people have been dealt a bad hand and some people, for whatever reason, don't know how to or choose not to manage their finances.
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