Consumer Spending At Post-Depression High Relative GDP

Stephen Roach discusses U.S. consumer spending and says that it is likely to have to be curtailed in relative as it is near recent highs. Actually, his numbers seems to be outdated, as it did in fact reach a new post-Depression high of 71.2%, slightly higher than the 71.1% high reached during Q3 2009.

National savings is despite this somewhat higher than during Q3 2009 because government purchases fell from 20.8% to 20.2%. The resulting gross savings rate of 8.6% is however still very low historically. While it is higher than the 8.1% during Q3 2009, it is higher than the 11.2% during Q1 2007 and roughly 15% during the late 1990s.