Posted By: ms. ultimatespeaking of which - the U.S. personal savings rate was -1% last year, the only time since the Great Depression it's been that low. Savings rate in China? 40%. food for thought as you buy a 7,000" HDTV.

Decided to move this and start another thread.

This is a function of the way the global economy is structured right now. Developing nations (China) want jobs. Developed world corporations want profits. Developed world consumers want cheap nick-nacks to charge on their credit cards. So there's a cycle. Jobs move overseas to produce cheap nick-nacks which get shipped and sold in the USA. The whole chain is owned by big corporations who ring up profits. That portion of funds which is earned by jobs in the developing world gets shipped back to the developed world (buying dollars, selling RMB thus keeping developing world prices low) to finance all the credit card nick-nack buying.

It's great for everyone, until developed world consumers run out of ways to lever themselves (now / the future).

The glut of savings in the developing world is artificially depressing interest costs in this country. Artificially depressed borrowing in the developed world fuels asset booms (stocks, real estate, art, wine, luxury goods), which fuels further borrowing and levering of assets. Rinse, repeat.

Ultimate to be sustainable developed world (Americans) need to save more, and developing world economies need to stimulate domestic spending and consumer middle classes.

this is funny cause today is the first day of the rest of my life.

or rather today i am beginning a new budget i set for myself because i seem to always run a deficit and never save any money except in my 401k cause it gets taken without me doing anything. i am trying to be good and pay off my credit card bills this year so maybe next year i can finally buy a place.

that being said i bought myself an exorbitantly expensive prada wallet for valentines day yesterday. old habits die hard.