Franklin's thrift : the lost history of an American virtue / edited by David Blankenhorn, Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, and Sorcha Brophy-Warren.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Blankenhorn, David.

Whitehead, Barbara Dafoe, 1944-

Brophy-Warren, Sorcha.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Saving and investment--United States--History.

Saving and investment.

Thrift institutions--United States--History.

Thrift institutions.

Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790--Philosophy.

Franklin, Benjamin.

Physical Description:

xi, 258 p.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

West Conshohocken, Pa. : Templeton Press, c2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Americans today often think of thrift as a negative value-a miserly hoarding of resources and a denial of pleasure. Even more telling, many Americans don't even think of thrift at all anymore. Franklin's Thrift challenges this state of mind by recovering the rich history of thrift as a quintessentially American virtue. The contributors to this volume trace how the idea and practice of thrift have been a vital part of the American vision of economic freedom and social abundance. For Benjamin Franklin, who personified and promoted the idea, thrift meant working productively, consuming wisely, saving proportionally, and giving generously. Franklin's thrift became the cornerstone of a new kind of secular faith in the ordinary person's capacity to shape his lot and fortune in life. Later chapters document how thrift moved into new domains in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It became the animating idea behind social movements to promote children's school savings, create mutual savings banks and credit unions for working men and women, establish a federal savings bond program, and galvanize the nation to conserve resources during two world wars. Historians, enthusiasts of Americana or traditional American virtues, and anyone interested in resolving our society's current financial woes will find much to treasure in this diverse collection, with topics ranging from the inspirational lessons we can learn from the film It's a Wonderful Life to a history of the roles played by mutual savings banks, credit unions, and thrift stores in America's national thrift movement. It also includes actual policy recommendations for our present situation.

Contents:

pt. 1. Franklin's thrift : the creation of an American value

pt. 2. Thrift after Franklin : institutions and movements

pt. 3. For a new thrift : Meeting the twenty-first century challenge.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613260482

9781283260480

1283260484

9781599473529

1599473526

OCLC:

727649240