When consumers adopts new information technology they save

Mish commenting on the new savings philosophy:

Changing Consumer Psychology

Essential to the "go forward" economic outlook is whether consumer spending will return to pre-recession levels or reflect a "new normal" spending pattern. The significant shift to saving in American preferences, as opposed to spending, suggests an important change in consumer psychology. Most likely, this change in consumer preferences results from the severity of the recession, the financial crisis, many Americans' severe loss of wealth in their homes and investments, and the significant change in the availability of credit throughout the economy.

My take:

The consumer has technology to extend and control the household budget. Both, the run up to the crash, and the severety of the crash results from consumer adoption of new methods to control and manage hosuhold purchases. What is one clue for this? The rise of internet technology continued unabated through the crash, as did cell phones. This same pattern held in the great depression where radio technology accelerated its growth in the depression.

When we get the sudden burst of information technology, we first try to use it completely and hit a constraint, a crash, then a Recalculation because we refuse to give it up.