Who is the new American consumer?

"At the very least, people will reject products and services that take away from the highest priority values," he says.

A new appreciation of middle-class life, sharpened by the heroism of New York's blue-collar rescuers, could make some consumption patterns seem even more conspicuous.

Mark Riedy, director of the real estate institute at the University of San Diego, says potential home buyers in southern California are withdrawing initial deposits on new homes and could delay such purchases for years.

"There's going to be a retrenchment," says Professor Riedy. "The age of innocence has ended for a lot of us that didn't live through the 1930s and '40s."

More than 50 percent of those refinancing their homes are withdrawing cash through home equity loans. But rather than spend the money on cars or education, the money is being used to pay down personal debt, says Doug Duncan, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Mr. Duncan predicts a growing movement through next year to shore up savings.

"Because of Sept. 11, people in general are going to be more conservative-minded and increase their savings," he says.

Still, many experts are skeptical that Sept. 11 has wrought an enduring shift in consumer attitudes. Some suggest that the Yankee wisdom of Benjamin Franklin's dictum "A penny saved is a penny earned," no longer touches a chord with Americans of the 21st century.

The erosion of real need among all but the American underclass, some argue, could be a key reason.

The underpinnings of the modern economy, such as dual-income families and a large social safety net, have rendered saving less necessary, says Lendol Calder, professor of history at Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill., and author of "Financing the American Dream: A Cultural History of Consumer Credit."

Since the 1960s, he says, Americans have largely redefined the very concept of saving.

"Consumers' notion of saving is similar to how a business defines saving - in terms of investments and durable goods, not money in the bank," says Prof. Calder.

Even the image of Americans gladly embracing austerity on the home front during World War II may be substantially idealized, says Lawrence Glickman, a professor of history at South Carolina State University.

Professor Glickman cites the flood of frustration in America that swelled in response to rationing during the 1940s.

"Intellectuals ... thought we would become a new kind of country because of sacrifice," says Glickman. "But they didn't see Americans becoming less materialistic, just more frustrated at their inability to consume goods."

There are exceptions to the spendthrift image. Evangelical Christian subcultures and certain ethnic groups like German Americans have historically emphasized saving.

Indeed, a thread of dissent against American materialism and rampant consumerism has stretched through much of American history, from the Puritans to the prairie populists and into the present day.

These groups have traditionally grown in ranks during times of plenty, as disaffected consumers look for an alternative to the materialism of the age, according to Glickman.

Current manifestations include the agrarian and craft movements, as well as the simplicity organizations that publish books on living with two pairs of pants, three shirts, and one self-knit sweater.

"Through things like church organizations, labor unions, or other associations," says Glickman, "segments of the population will want to change their ways."

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