This is behavior we need to import from Germany.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0c618e00-bd62-11dd-bba1-0000779fd18c.html?nclick_check=1

Why the Germans just hate to spend, spend, spend

By Bertrand Benoit

Published: November 28 2008 19:24 | Last updated: November 28 2008
19:24

To the German radio presenter, the real news about the measures
announced by Washington on Tuesday to jolt banks into lending again
was not so much the astronomical costs, but a little-noticed comment
in Hank Paulson’s statement.

“Millions of Americans,” croaked the US Treasury secretary, were being
denied credit or facing rising credit card rates, “making it more
expensive for families to finance everyday purchases”. The notion that
families should finance everyday purchases on credit, the anchor
commented, “suggests Washington has still to understand what brought
us there in the first place”.

Washington does not understand; the German anchor does not understand
why Washington does not understand. Indeed, the defining feature of
Germany’s relations with its western allies since Lehman Brothers
vaporised two months ago is that nobody understands anyone any more.

US, French and British officials puzzle over Germany’s refusal to
tackle the recession head-on. German leaders, meanwhile, cannot see
why their taxpayers’ money should go into encouraging precisely the
kind of behaviour – reckless lending, careless borrowing and
overconsumption – that precipitated the financial crisis.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0c618e00-bd62-11dd-bba1-0000779fd18c.html?nclick_check=1