The low savings rate in the US may help to offset inflation, but it will come at a cost.
From 1959 to 2007 the personal savings rate reached a high of about 11% in 1985 and has fallen since then until 2006 where it has been negative since. This means that Americans are spending more than they earn. Much of this negative savings was most likely people purchasing homes and drawing on home equity lines of credit.
Now that the credit has dried up, and unemployment has increased, there will be downward price pressure on new jobs and probably existing jobs also as people work for whatever is being offered in order to try to stay afloat.
The good news is that this will help to keep inflation down. However, it won't be enough to deal with the high costs of importing products. This is going to cause many Americans to get squeezed financially for several years most likely.
The good that will come out of this is that Americans are now going to have to start living within their means. They are now cutting back on discretionary spending which is effecting many different parts of the economy. Large car dealers are going out of business, furniture stores, pool & outdoor bbqs, and even pet stores. Maybe you see the same thing happening in your neighborhood.
Americans are tightening their spending which they should do. The government wants us to continue to spend. The responsible thing to do is to save and to get the savings rate back up again. However, this will mean lots of stores closings, unemployment and possibly falling wages.
It seems like this is what will happen and has to happen but don't tell that to our government. They want to buy up bad debt and bring more credit to the market. This will bring more inflation which will mean Americans will get squeezed further.
Most Americans don't need to be borrowing more now. Credit would be fuel to the fire. Any additional credit to people already in debt will put them further in debt.
The fact is, many businesses that sell high ticket discretionary products will fail as Americans tighten their spending. A bailout will only be a short term fix that will come with inflation.
As Jim Rogers has said repeatedly, recessions are good for the economy because they clean up the system so that new growth can take over. Don't tell this to the government.
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