Transcripts

"Commentary"-TV Land Economic Lessons

JEFF YASTINE: Tonight's commentator says there's a lot Ozzie and Harriet could teach us about frugality. He's Rick Newman, chief business correspondent at "U.S. News & World Report."

RICK NEWMAN, CORRESPONDENT, US NEWS & WORLD REPORT: Most Americans probably think they're pretty frugal. But we're not. We buy bigger homes and cars than we need, we run the air conditioning when were not even home and when we need to boost our spirits, we go shopping. But now, that's ending. Soaring energy costs, a housing meltdown and a lame economy are reining in our overspending. It's called the new frugality-- just like the old frugality, back when Ozzie and Harriet were a model family and Americans had never heard of a latte. Back then, they didn't have everyday luxuries like Tuscan bread and high-thread-count sheets. Most people only had a couple pairs of shoes. It was a treat to go out for dinner once a month. Consumer spending was less than 60 percent of GDP in the 1950s. Today, it's about 70 percent. So we still need to give up a lot of things we've grown entitled to. We've started by getting rid of big SUVs and buying more stuff at Wal-Mart. So what else are we going to give up, flat-screen TVs, the iPhone? I also wonder what will fuel our optimism. Ozzie and Harriet might seem frugal to us, but they didn't know they were frugal. In fact, after the privations of a great depression and war rationing, they probably felt that a house filled with matching furniture was downright extravagant. That kept their spirits high -- they spent more. But giving stuff up makes us feel bummed out. And if we don't have retail therapy, how will we make ourselves feel better? Go bowling? Get to know our neighbors better? Maybe we really will discard two generations of acquired habits and discover our inner spendthrift. But if the new frugality holds, it might be a good time to invest in a psychotherapy franchise. I'm Rick Newman.