Kathleen Madigan at WSJ observes:
In order to increase spending, consumers have been saving less to offset the money lost when tax rates rose this year. That strategy is unsustainable. Unless job and wage growth pick up, U.S. consumers don’t have the financial heft to save the global economy.
Read more at Sorry, World, U.S. Consumers Can’t Save You – Real Time Economics – WSJ.
Gabriel Burin writes that the U.S. savings rate sank last month to its lowest since November.
“Households were only able to boost consumption in the third quarter by dipping into their savings,” said Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, after the Commerce Department release. “Faced with the prospect of major tax hikes in the New Year, however, they will soon become more cautious”……..
