Word: thrifts
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DIED. Arthur Levitt, 79, New York State comptroller from 1955 to 1978, whose nonpartisan dedication, thrift with public funds and relentless criticism of fiscal chicanery endeared him to voters, who returned him to office five times with huge majorities; in New York City. A Brooklyn lawyer and nominal Democrat, Levitt served under four Governors, tightening the state's auditing procedures, including "performance audits" of state agencies, and eventually giving his office prestige and power virtually beyond politics...
...cure the Depression, capitalism was forced to save itself by creating the economic mechanisms that produced inflation and the consumer mentality. Capitalism had to destroy the Protestant ethic of thrift and create, through advertising and other mechanisms, a hedonistic culture of free spenders. Now this solution threatens capitalism, so we are told to stop spending, stop consuming...
What about the "small" saver who wants to set aside 25? or so from his allowance each week? Bankers blush at the thought that they might be thwarting grade-school thrift, and some have moved to exempt children from the new fees. New York's Manufacturers Hanover, for example, waives for minors the $1 quarterly charge on pint-size accounts. But if the pressure on banks to streamline their operations continues to grow, the kids, and many of their on-the-brink elders, may find that a piggy bank is the best they...
Finding solutions for these social and psychological causes of inflation will be excruciatingly difficult. Attitudes toward work and thrift have evolved over decades and can be changed only slowly. The most Important change would be to recognize that immediate consumption must be limited, and that the public needs to save and invest for tomorrow. Says Political Philosopher Dahrendorf: "Some stabilization of expectations
...nation's financial system, as it tries to adapt to the new world of persistent high inflation. The Federal Home Loan Bank Board has revealed that during the second half of last year, 266 of the nation's 4,100 savings and loans and other thrift institutions lost money. Wall Street analysts say that at least 20% of them are now operating in the red. Amid this disarray, the Government is quickly changing the nation's banking statutes. President Carter last week signed a new law phasing out interest ceilings on passbook accounts...