"They are also being used as incentives to get people to spend instead of save." - yep. That's the paradox of thrift for you. If everyone is trying to scrimp, consumption deteriorates and the economy tanks. So folks try to save even more. Vicious circle.
"That's a nice quandary people are put in; spend your savings or bank them while they are getting 0% interest" - or invest in more risky assets. Depressions aren't fun for anyone. The choices are all least bad ones.
I think D&O has reflected the fact that people of his type have suffered in certain ways. Absolutely right. People in all sorts of groups have done so. There is no pain-free exit from a financial cataclysm.
The trick is to avoid the conditions which create them. Once you are in them, everyone is stuffed - to some degree.
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