Deseret News best of 2012: Financial responsibility

With Americans collectively hitting a peak of $13.8 trillion in household debt four years ago, and now living through the Great Recession, the question arises: Will this economic disaster produce not just a temporary tightening of belts, but a real renaissance of thrift?

Prior to the Great Recession, Americans experienced 20 years of gains in net worth. For the bottom 50 percent of households, all of those gains are now gone — and the wealthiest 10 percent are 80 percent richer. The losses are largely due to the collapse of home values, a mountain of consumer debt and the decline of median incomes to 1993 levels.

Read the full report here: Thrift Renaissance