Thrift: Rebirth of a Forgotten Virtue

Despite the calls for massive spending and “stimulus,” if the current financial crisis has taught us anything, it is to save, not just spend. In fact, over the years “thrift” has become America’s lost or forgotten virtue, rarely mentioned and never celebrated, despite its historical significance. In Thrift, Theodore Roosevelt Malloch traces the history of thrift from its roots in the Scottish enlightenment to the no-waste credo of Sam Walton. Thrift, Malloch argues, provides the resources to stimulate prosperity. Even if the government manages to shock our economy back to life, America will require discipline, accountability, and farsightedness to right its course for generations to come. In an age when corruption and greed have crowded out personal responsibility, Thrift is lively, topical, and immediately useful.