Editor's note: Alejandra Lopez-Fernandini is a senior policy analyst in the Asset Building Program at the New America Foundation, a Washington-based think tank that seeks innovative solutions across the political spectrum.



Alejandra Lopez-Fernandini says Americans have no choice but to increase the amount they save.



WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As the economy slows, millions of Americans will cut their budgets to stay afloat. This generates conflicting impulses: If I skip that morning coffee and granola, will my thriftiness put my local coffee shop out of business?



Will that force America's granola farmers to lay off workers? What's a budget-conscious, patriotic and hungry girl to do?



Not to worry, saving a few dollars now will not prolong the recession. And, more important, spending all your discretionary income will not end the recession.



It's true that John Maynard Keynes' "Paradox of Thrift" suggests that, even while saving is beneficial to an individual, too much aggregate savings could deepen an ordinary recession. But in these extraordinary times, where banks and not just businesses are in desperate need of cash, this economic rule may not fully hold.



More important, individuals need savings to be prepared for unanticipated expenses and income losses, especially now. The reality is that there is no bailout coming to you. And those getting the bailout might not be willing to lend to you, anyway. So now is the time to save.



The money you save is your own personal safety net, what you tap when you have an unanticipated expense like a car repair or when you're between jobs, as many Americans find themselves nowadays.



The past decade has seen Americans saving at historically low levels; we've substituted plastic for the piggy bank. But the days of cheap and easy access to credit have come and gone. We all need to save not because we want to but because we have to.



For decades, our country's economy has flourished, but it relied too heavily on debt-driven consumer spending to power its growth. Excessive household debt, coupled with stagnating incomes and little to no personal savings, now places America in a precarious position.



Compared with the 19 other major industrialized economies, the United States ranks dead last for personal savings. That's right, in 2003, the United States was the least thrifty nation among the G-20.



Why is it important that we save more as a nation? Savings offers us the protection we need to make it through hard or uncertain times and to pay for important future needs such as a home, education or adequate retirement. Savings also creates pools of capital for investment purposes (who will fund the next neighborhood coffee shop?) and to keep interest rates low.



It appears the current recession has scared us back to saving; we are no longer spending all of our disposable income. To ensure that the hopeful trend continues, government and employers should adopt a new generation of savings policies that are both innovative and simple.



Common sense, along with research from the emerging field of behavioral economics, tells us why we aren't saving more already:



1) We like instant gratification



Whether it's iPhones or our paychecks, we want everything, and we want it now. We are so short-term-oriented that many of us would rather have a fatter paycheck now than set aside some of that happiness, even if the funds will be greater in the future.



2) We tend to procrastinate



Once we start something (or fail to start something), it's really hard to change course. And we'd prefer a hassle-free world. Who doesn't, right? When it's hard just to figure out how to start saving, most people won't. However, the flip side is that when it's easy to start saving, a lot more people will. Think about current retirement savings. How many of us would open an account and make regular deposits if an employer didn't take it right out of our paychecks?



When it comes to savings, we need someone to
who saves less than all other big countries? What does Alejandra Lopez-Fernandini believe government should automatically encourage? what should government and firms do? who should automatically encourage saving? what is crisis forcing American families to do? According to Lopez-Fernandini what country saves less than nearly all big countries?
United States increase the amount they save. adopt a new generation of savings policies government and employers increase the amount they save. United States
question: who saves less than all other big countries?, answer: United States | question: What does Alejandra Lopez-Fernandini believe government should automatically encourage?, answer: increase the amount they save. | question: what should government and firms do?, answer: adopt a new generation of savings policies | question: who should automatically encourage saving?, answer: government and employers | question: what is crisis forcing American families to do?, answer: increase the amount they save. | question: According to Lopez-Fernandini what country saves less than nearly all big countries?, answer: United States