These trees have enormous, trunks and live for thousands of years.  One Boabab tree has a trunk with a diameter of more than 25 meters, and was dated to have been living at the time of Noah’s flood (source).

These trees teach about how businesses, countries and families can survive hard economic times.  The Boabab tree can drop it’s leaves for up to 9 months of the year to survive drought.  So, one of the secrets to the longevity of this tree is that it can dramatically reduce it’s consumption of resources when those resources become scarce.  When economic conditions get tough, do our families, businesses and countries have the wisdom to do the same thing?

Did you know that for each dollar Obama wants to spend in 2010, more than 30 cents are borrowed?

When times get tough and income shrinks, the companies, families and countries that have the discipline to proportionally reduce expenditures in a timely manner have a much greater chance of survival.  In short, strong companies, families and countries know that they can’t spend more than they make for long, or they are dramatically increasing the chances of economic failure.

In short, Americans are becoming more fiscally responsible.  We are choosing to spend less on unnecessary items, borrow less on credit cards and save more so that we can make needed purchases with cash and weather rainy days.  This is not a bad thing.  These are the same fundamental financial principles we have all been taught and that we all would teach our children.  The wise man builds his financial house upon the rock of savings and frugal spending. 

This frugal/savings mentality might slow an economic recovery.  However, it would build the economic recovery on a much more solid foundation, and give that economic recovery a greater chance at long-term sustainability.  I would much rather have an economic recovery built on solid financial principles that takes longer to achieve than a quick economic recovery based on debt-fueled consumption that everyone knows can’t last.  We’ve had 11 recessions since World Ward II.  Maybe it’s time we should learn from this recession and make the correct long-term financial decisions that will stop this unnecessary recessionary pattern.