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I think you're half right. But there are cultures in which people save money. (You can just run a web search for "savings rate".) My hypothesis is that "human"
by scythe 1y ago
I think you're half right. But there are cultures in which people save money. (You can just run a web search for "savings rate".)
My hypothesis is that "human" nature does play a role, specifically a very general phenomenon in animal psychology called "observational learning". If you see people around you who saved money and it worked out for them, you're more likely to imitate those people. Saving money probably isn't instinctive for the vast majority, but that doesn't mean it's unattainable.
Taking the contrapositive, if we look at cultures where people don't save money, it's probably because of a lack of successful role models. Saving money hasn't worked out for people in that culture in the past, so there's nobody to imitate. There are always going to be a few people who do save money, but if they get wiped out by medical debt, rampant hyperinflation, or some other systemic crises, or if the country's bankruptcy laws are so generous that their spendthrift counterparts ultimately live better than they do, then their behavior is less likely to catch on.
In the US, savings culture has been decimated by years of QE and ZIRP, so the people who poured all of their money into housing and stocks did better than the cautious types. Skeptics have claimed for years that this will lead to an awful hangover. We'll see.
- barchar 1y agoIt has a lot to do with the structure of economies. Usually they're big exporters with fairly stable currencies. The differences in savings rates are super huge, even within cultural groups. Demographics also play a role as does inequality.
- bluecalm 1y ago>>I think you're half right. But there are cultures in which people save money. (You can just run a web search for "savings rate".) Yes definitely. My whole point is that it's about culture/values you learn as a child from your family not about external factors. >>Taking the contrapositive, if we look at cultures where people don't save money, it's probably because of a lack of successful role models. I am not sure if it's about role models or just about what your family/people close to you strongly believe. >>In the US, savings culture has been decimated by years of QE and ZIRP, so the people who poured all of their money into housing and stocks did better than the cautious types. Skeptics have claimed for years that this will lead to an awful hangover. We'll see. Well, pouring money into housing or stocks isn't that problematic if at all. I mean, housing as investment is problematic on its own but in a stable system investments like stocks will always do better (on average) than keeping money in the bank. The problematic thing is wasting money on pointless shiny things. The culture of materialism where you value is defined by the next expensive thing you can show off to your friends.