A fascinating talk on how 72% of the American Gross Domestic Product — consumers — are changing their spending behavior, relying on old school frugality tips to save more money, and deleveraging (e.g. saying goodbye to credit) to reduce their liability and financial risk. Mr. Gerzema compiles an enormous amount of personal finance data to support his thesis that consumers are shifting their purchasing behavior from mindless consumption to mindful consumption.

Perhaps more intriguing to me is his belief that crisis brings opportunity happens to parallel mine in that we should embrace the recession as a positive influence of change for global business, as well as individual responsibility.

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Hat tip to John Gerzema from The Brand Bubble blog for the excellent talk.

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