Iran is a cash society. There are no credit cards. Until recently, even homes were purchased in cash.

Given that, Iranians are often utterly shocked when I explain how debt-driven the American economy is.

How can everything, even down to cell phones and clothes be on credit?

A local spice vendor once asked a visiting European friend how much money he has. He responded frankly: just a few thousand Euros.

The spice vendor was shocked, not only did he have more money (in Tomans), he also owns his home, making his net worth was magnitudes higher!

How many people in the West live paycheck to paycheck, barely making rent, just a car repair or medical bill away from financial ruin?

We take this state of affairs for granted, but we should pause and reflect on how crazy it is to live in a society where we own almost nothing.

This is not to say Iranians are all rich, or that Iran's economy is better off than ours, far from it. Iran's economy is a mess.

But even an economy in shambles is (in some ways) more stable than ours due to high home ownership and low debt. That's something we can learn from.