180 Degrees: Economists Now Dislike Savings

Well, we've come full circle.  Not so long ago (five, six years ago?) most academic economists (ergo, mostly lefty economists) lamented the low savings rate in America as both economically dangerous and culturally deplorable (such commentaries normally dripped with sneering contempt of American consumerism, i.e. loathing of the average rube).

Well, saving is back and the economists don't like it one bit.

The personal saving rate, which measures savings as a percentage of disposable income, jumped to 4.4% in June from 4% a month earlier and a recent low of 3.2% in November, the government said Tuesday, as consumers squirreled away cash amid the weak economy.

Spending on everything from vacations to clothes was largely flat in June. Spending fell less than 0.1%, after easing 0.1% in May, even though Americans’ income after taxes rose 0.4%, the most since March. Consumer spending is the biggest single driver of the U.S. economy, accounting for roughly two-thirds of demand.

Let me guess, would it perhaps have something to do with the state of the economy being essentially the only potential obstacle to four more years of the Smartest President-Lightworker-Some Sort of a God fellow occupying the oval office???