US household saving: how far will it rise?

Prior to the recession of 2008/09 household saving was extremely low in the United States. In the context of the recession the saving rate has increased by about 2 percentage points to close to 4%. Such a rise is in line with the record from previous recessions. The study argues that, this time, the rise in the saving rate is likely to be stronger and to extend well beyond the recession itself. It could reverse much of the long decline between 1985 and 2005. The reason for this is that the forces which previously pushed the saving rate lower are now almost exclusively working in the opposite direction, i.e. pulling the saving rate up again.