Personal responsibility is making a comeback.

It’s a strange thing to say on Black Friday, a day defined by rampant consumerism.

But it’s the best way to describe a sudden surge in savings among American consumers.

It’s impossible, and irresponsible, to simplify the cause of our “Great Recession” to a single factor like rampant, out-of-control consumerism. Predatory lenders, for example, also played a key role.

But the role of greed in escalating the U.S. economic crisis is undeniable.

Greed, however, is out of style. Frugality is in.

For now, at least.

A study released this month by Richard Curtin, director of Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, spells out America’s newfound passion: saving money.

“There is going to be a shift from spending to saving, and that shift is necessary for the U.S. to regain its balance both at home and in the global economy,” Curtin said at U-M’s 57th annual Economic Outlook Conference.

The shift is already noticeable. From 1984 to 2008, Americans steadily spent more and more of their income, according to U-M statistics. In fact, at the height of the credit craze in 2005 Americans briefly spent more than they earned. It was, we now know, unsustainable.

Last year, however, consumers quickly shifted their focus to savings. By the third quarter of 2009, Americans were saving 3.3 percent of their earnings. That rate could continue its climb to about 7 percent in the coming years, Curtin suggested.

“It’s probably going to move toward that level over the next several years but it’s going to take a long time to get there,” he said.

For most consumers, a healthy fear of too much debt is driving their spending habits. Households are cleaning up their balance sheets.

“Consumers have shifted their evaluation to more generally focus on financial risk than we have seen in a long time,” Curtin said.

The result? Debt is declining. In fact, overall consumer debt declined by 6.5 percent during the third quarter of 2009, according to the U-M study.

“How do consumers first raise the savings rate in the face of what’s been called the Great Recession? By cutting debt,” Curtin said. “That’s what they’ve been doing.”

The implication? More consumers paying with cash for products on Black Friday.

Greed’s temporary crisis, however, is paradoxically problematic. The increased savings rate’s impact on the U.S. economy - about two-thirds of which relies on consumer spending - is significant. Curtin said he envisions annual growth in consumer spending to eventually settle at 2.5 percent, down from a historic average of about 3.5 percent.

That likely means more retail bankruptcies and consolidation as consumers regroup.

This holiday season, for example, the National Retail Federation expects consumers to spend 1 percent less than they did a year earlier - the second straight year that rate has dropped.

Greed is gone - and gift giving is suffering a blow, too.

“There is no way of determining how large this shift in savings will be and how long it will last but it will certainly last for the foreseeable future,” Curtin said. “And it will be a large shift.”

Contact AnnArbor.com’s Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter.