Save or Spend

Do Americans save enough? I bet that the savings rate is up dramatically in the last ten weeks. We know that Japan has a very high savings rate. In the last twenty years, economic growth in America has totally outdistanced Japan. The highest household savings rates for 2007 were Germany and Ireland (10.9%). The lowest household savings rates for 2007 were Finland (-3.8%), Norway (-1.2%) and the Czech Republic (-0.7%). The rate for the United States was 0.4%, while the U.K was 2.9%.
We can expect the savings rate for this country to increase dramatically in the next twelve months. Therefore, it is clear that once the recession is over, we can forecast a period of slow growth in the years ahead. It is up to our new government to modify monetary and fiscal policy to promote growth.

Random thoughts....Is Terrorism back?...you bet...amazing pictures from Mumbai...this will be another of President-elect Obama's priorities on Day 1......The seasonal trend helped the market go up for the fifth day in a row...lets watch next Monday and Tuesday closely...if we can avoid a huge decline in prices...look for a test of 9,600 in December..off to see Australia tonight...