Is there a savings glut?

To accurately measure the amount of savings in the economy, we have to look beyond the personal savings rate

Vault
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu))

Over at Project Syndicate, Barry Eichengreen asks why interest rates have been falling around the Western world for the last 30 years:

Adjusted for inflation, interest rates have been falling for three decades, and their current low level encourages investors, searching for yield, to take on additional risk. Low rates also leave central banks little room for loosening monetary policy in a slowdown, because nominal interest cannot fall below zero. [Project Syndicate]

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John Aziz is the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also an associate editor at Pieria.co.uk. Previously his work has appeared on Business Insider, Zero Hedge, and Noahpinion.