Did the Protestant Ethic Disappear? The Virtue of Thrift on the Cusp of Postwar Affluence

After World War II, the United States moved into what historians are now recognizing as a full-blown consumer society. Consumer society carried with it vast cultural changes, including shifts in fundamental values. Not least important were shifts in the practices of thrift, as seen in how Americans...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Enterprise & society 2008-12, Vol.9 (4), p.788-815
Main Author: Steigerwald, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Affluence
Automobiles
Bank loans
Capitalism
Consumer credit
Consumer psychology
Credit
Cultural change
Historians
Morality
Mortgage loans
Personal debt
Personal savings
Protestant ethic
Protestant ethics
Savings
Thrift
Wealth
World War II
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:After World War II, the United States moved into what historians are now recognizing as a full-blown consumer society. Consumer society carried with it vast cultural changes, including shifts in fundamental values. Not least important were shifts in the practices of thrift, as seen in how Americans regarded personal savings and debt. Traditionally seen as opposites, those two economic behaviors became intertwined in the 1950s, as Americans continued to save, not to accumulate wealth but to spend and often even as they took on consumer debt. Thus, the 1950s were a tipping point between industrial capitalism and consumer capitalism.
ISSN:1467-2227
1467-2235
DOI:10.1017/S146722270000762X