It’s tempting to think about re-naming my blog “Did You Hear What They Said Over at the Ladder?” and just have all my posts be rip-offs of the New America Foundation’s blog on asset-building.
I resist that temptation, mostly because I assume that most anyone interested enough in asset-building to read my blog has probably been a reader of the Ladder for a while. But I can’t resist noting their recent pointer to a CNN opinion piece by New America staffer Alejandra Lopez-Fernandini. It’s a great piece on how we shouldn’t misinterpret the need for fiscal stimulus in a recession and assume that individual households should be discouraged from saving too much (which is a message that many people hear in the media today). Alejandra explains how saving helps vulnerable households reduce risk and increase the probability of their solvency at a time when the last thing we need is more bankruptcies and foreclosures. It also makes funds available for investment by businesses that can put those funds to productive use.
She was able to articulate so well what many of us in the asset-building field have been struggling to explain to ourselves and others during the past half-year of economic crisis.
