Chris Dodd

Jake is out today, so I thought I'd take a shot at the Friday NDN Backgrounder. It addresses a critical question that most of us face everyday: whether to spend or save?

With consumers reeling from the recession (and many forced to turn to credit cards to make ends meet), President Barack Obama signed bipartisan legislation today instituting the most significant credit card reforms in 40 years.

The banking industry isn't exactly popular these days, and with so many Americans struggling, Congress finally acted to reign in some of the worst abuses, including massive rate hikes and hidden fees.

The credit card crackdown and Americans' soaring credit card debt is part of a larger question that Simon, Rob and the rest of the team have been asking: to spend or save? Today's NDN Backgrounder provides some of our analysis and commentary on this very important issue:

• The Economic Conversation Enters a New Phase: Putting Consumers Front and Center Now by Simon Rosenberg, Huffington Post, 5/14/09 - Rosenberg writes that the Administration's turn in the national economic conversation from the plight of big institutions and the financial system to what is perhaps the most important part of the story of the Great Recession still is not adequately understood - the weakened state of the American consumer prior to the recent recession and financial collapse.
• Why Obama Is Right to be Focusing on Credit Card Debt by Simon Rosenberg, 5/11/09 - Rosenberg raises a fundamental question NDN has been addressing for months: what is the best course for consumers now? should they borrow and spend, helping fuel a recovery, or should they pay down their debts and clean up their own balance sheets? The answer will help determine how deep and long the Great Recession will be.
• The Housing Crisis and Our National Attititudes Toward Saving by Dr. Robert Shapiro, 4/17/2009 – Shapiro observes that, as a result of the burst of the housing bubble, the Millennial generation will likely be more interested in saving than investing in homes.
• Spend? Save? The debate continues by Simon Rosenberg, 2/11/2009 - Building on a previous post, Rosenberg follows the growing debate about whether American families should be focusing on saving.
• Spend? Save? What Is the Right Course for Everyday Americans? by Simon Rosenberg, 2/3/09 - Rosenberg asks that while there has been much discussion about the need to put money in people's pocket so they will go out and spend, accelerate economic activity and help end the recession, is this really the best course for American families now?
• A Stimulus for the Long Run by Simon Rosenberg and Dr. Robert Shapiro, 11/14/2008 – This important essay lays out the now widely agreed-upon argument that the upcoming economic stimulus package must include investments in the basic elements of growth for the next decade, including elements that create a low-carbon, energy-efficient economy.
• Making the Struggle of Every Day People the Central Focus of the National Debate by Simon Rosenberg, 8/17/2008 - As the 2008 presidential campaign entered a crucial phase, Rosenberg argued that political leaders must focus on raising the wages and incomes of Americans.