This article http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/12/news/economy/savings_rate/index.htm?post... says we are diverting money into saving that might be better spent reactivating the economy. We will be better off if the economy resets itself to lower spending - and that's coming from someone whose day job has always been paid for by people buying stuff they don't need. In fact I used to buy all sorts of stuff that I didn't need, and I do not want to go back to that. The store shelves are full of things I don't want to buy, I don't care how cheap they are.