More Prophesies of Doom

...relative to Germany this time, not China

Economist.com | Germany's economy: "Against the 11% of their income put aside by Germans, American households save less than 1%. America's government is also far more spendthrift: adjusted for the economic cycle, its budget deficit is twice as large as Germany's. As a result of inadequate saving, America has a current-account deficit of 6% of GDP. By contrast, Germany has a surplus of 3%. It is true that less saving and more borrowing has propped up consumer spending in America, but one wonders how long that can last. Without higher saving, American investment and hence future living standards will eventually be constrained. In some ways, a Martian might argue, America's economy needs more restructuring than Germany's. "