Coolie to coolie in four generations?

WRM worries about the consumption versus production ethos of our current economy.   He suggest that a change in philosophy would be a good thing.  Full post is here.  Excerpt here:

Definitive statistics on savings rates of the very wealthy are hard to find.............. But as this New York Times article from 2006 calculates (citing a Moody’s economist), the ultra-wealthy don’t seem to save very much at all, and are at the vanguard of the consumption society that has transformed America. 


 On the one hand, this should give leftie economists pause. From a Keynesian point of view, if the rich really are spending every dime, then raising their taxes will slow economic growth by reducing consumption. Shifting income from wealthy fat cats to poorer folks is supposed to stimulate the economy because the poor (allegedly) are less likely to save their income. But if the rich are already spending it all, nothing economically is gained by redistributing it. 


 And there is some good news.  If the rich keep spending it as fast as they make it, then we don’t have to worry about the rise of a new plutocratic aristocracy.  They will waste all their money on shiny toys and their kids and grandkids will have to earn their own piles.