Imbalance Whac-a-mole

The 1.1% drop in March US retail sales suggests consumers are filling their piggybanks. The savings rate was 4.2% in February and should show further rises for March and April as “stimulus” tax cuts kick in. Some economic imbalances are disappearing at last. Pity about the new ones. For several years the US suffered from two unsustainable economic imbalances. Its balance of payments deficit was $800bn annually, or 6% of GDP. Its citizens’ savings rate was zero, far below the average 8% of the p...