US dash to savings
In the US bank savings deposits rose by $246bn to $4,343bn (a record) in the nine weeks to March 9, according to data from the Fed.
$246bn in 9 weeks is more than the whole of 2008, when savings deposits rose by $229bn.
We must get the banks lending again sounds rather hollow - certainly from a retail savings perspective.
What is happening today is not simply a "crunch" which can be unblocked with government policy. We are witnessing a generational change in attitudes to money and to debt. Children will remember the worry and stresses they see their parents going through and will not be as enthusiastic to put it on the plastic.
A new frugality is coming.
$246bn in 9 weeks is more than the whole of 2008, when savings deposits rose by $229bn.
We must get the banks lending again sounds rather hollow - certainly from a retail savings perspective.
What is happening today is not simply a "crunch" which can be unblocked with government policy. We are witnessing a generational change in attitudes to money and to debt. Children will remember the worry and stresses they see their parents going through and will not be as enthusiastic to put it on the plastic.
A new frugality is coming.
