{"product_id":"in-cheap-we-trust-the-story-of-a-misunderstood-american-virtue-paperback","title":"In Cheap We Trust: The Story of a Misunderstood American Virtue - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eLauren Weber\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCheap suit. Cheap date. Cheap shot. It's a dirty word, an epithet laden with negative meanings. It is also the story of Lauren Weber's life. As a child, she resented her father for keeping the heat at 50 degrees through the frigid New England winters and rarely using his car's turn signals-to keep them from burning out. But as an adult, when she found herself walking 30 blocks to save $2 on subway fare, she realized she had turned into him. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In this lively treatise on the virtues of being cheap, Weber explores provocative questions about Americans' conflicted relationship with consumption and frugality. Why do we ridicule people who save money? Where's the boundary between thrift and miserliness? Is thrift a virtue or a vice during a recession? And was it common sense or obsessive-compulsive disorder that made her father ration the family's toilet paper? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In answering these questions, \u003ci\u003eIn Cheap We Trust\u003c\/i\u003e offers a colorful ride through the history of frugality in the United States. Readers will learn the stories behind Ben Franklin and his famous maxims, Hetty Green (named \"the world's greatest miser\" by the \u003ci\u003eGuinness Book of Records\u003c\/i\u003e) and the stereotyping of Jewish and Chinese immigrants as cheap. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Weber also explores contemporary expressions and dilemmas of thrift. From Dumpster-diving to economist John Maynard Keynes's \"Paradox of Thrift\" to today's recession-driven enthusiasm for frugal living, \u003ci\u003eIn Cheap We Trust\u003c\/i\u003e teases out the meanings of cheapness and examines the wisdom and pleasures of not spending every last penny.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLauren Weber\u003c\/b\u003e was formerly a staff reporter at Reuters and \u003ci\u003eNewsday\u003c\/i\u003e. She has also written for the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAmerican Banker\u003c\/i\u003e, and other publications. A former resident at Yaddo, Lauren graduated from Wesleyan University and was a Knight-Bagehot fellow, a fellowship that invites 10 business journalists each year to study finance and economics at Columbia's Graduate School of Business. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Weber grew up with a father whose creative and eccentric ways of saving money included rationing household toilet paper and developing a gas-saving method of driving in which light pedal taps substituted for full braking.\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 336\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 x 8.25 x 5.5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e July 15, 2016\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51762381095200,"sku":"9780316030298","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/6f59b3acb2ad39e921a54b682cfbd887.webp?v=1780220539","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/in-cheap-we-trust-the-story-of-a-misunderstood-american-virtue-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}