USA Lowest Savings Rate?: (OT)

This is an article that lists items that are not included in the Federal Reserves calculation of USA savings rate.

"USA: Lowest Savings Rate? Or Hidden Assets? What's Ahead, 2000-2010 by John Kamin, Editor in The Forecaster

It starts off:
"Dr. Alan Greenspan, head of the Federal Reserve Board, complained about low savings rates in the USA, as do other government officials. It is true that Americans do not put as much percent of income in the bank as citizens in a number of other countries, raw statistics show. But it is also true that Americans have other ways of saving that are of limited availability to savers in other nations; savings that simply do not show up in the stats.

Parts of the low savings rate is caused by those who push down interest rates for various political and economic reasons. Simply put: if banks paid more interest, savers, retirees, wage-earners would save more! Right now, savers subsidize borrowers with low rates. Buy why should savers put their money in a bank to earn 3% or so, while credit card companies are charging them 23% per month interest on unpaid balances?

Hidden American Savings Secrets There are a lot of U.S. savings that do not show up in the statistics. Here are just a few."...

The list includes the following with descriptions, etc:
(1) Currency in circulation.
(2) Investments in the stock market.
(3) Home ownership.
(4) Hard money assets (gold, silver, etc.).
(5) Risk money used for small businesses and start-up companies.
(6) Social Security savings.
(7) Private retirement plans (IRAs, 401Ks, Keogh Plans, Pension Plans, etc.).

To read the article and the description of the seven items listed above go to:
http://www.thebullandbear.com/articles/0699-savings.html