Lauren Weber grew up with a father who rationed toilet paper and rarely used his car's turn signals (to prevent them from burning out). She was formerly a staff reporter at Newsday and Reuters, and has also written for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and other publications.
Franklin’s lessons, unheeded?
On June 9, an anonymous buyer at a Sotheby’s auction bid $566,500 for an original copy of Ben Franklin’s first Poor Richard’s Almanack — the second-highest amount ever paid for a book printed in the United States. What would the famously frugal patriot have said about the extravagant price? Here’s an op-ed I wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer, imagining Franklin’s reaction to the sale.
Recent publications
In Cheap We Trust
The Story of a Misunderstood American Virtue
Little, Brown and Co.
Sept. 7, 2009
You can probably find the book at your local library. But if you'd like your own copy, you can buy it at
