— This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on October 7, 2019, Monday.
The latest research note from Raymond James offers a new perspective to understand the change in U.S. economy structure. U.S. millennials is saving more than the free-spending boomers did before them, and its's causing an economic imbalance.
Scared by the financial crisis, the first thing they learned about money management is saving early and often is the key, and their spending habit is more and more important to U.S. economy as they are going to be the major source of income and expenditure. According to data from the St. Louis Federal Reserve,
The current personal saving rate is 8.1% as of August, by comparison, in 1996 the rate was 5.7%.
While saving is beneficial for individuals, a slowdown in spending hurts businesses and therefore the economy.
The higher saving rates, Raymond James believes, has had disinflation impact, driving the relatively slow growth and low inflation in this recovery, causing the incentives for excess supply, and disinflation biases in the global economy. And it's not only a problem in the United States, but also in other countries with great economies, that makes a global trend, curbing the growth rate of global economy.
While the U.S. personal saving rate might be raising, the national saving rate as a percentage of GDP is at a relatively low level globally.
According to data compiled by the IMF, this figure was around 18% as of 2016 in the U.S, Great Britain's was 13%, but lower than that in Asia countries, such as Japan and China, with 27% and 46%.
Generally, U.S. is still a spending-driven country, so how to let the millennials spend money? It may also be a matter of serious consideration for us economic growth