An unsatisfying implication of the literature on the saving glut is that it paints America as a tragic victim of forces beyond its control (though some of the authors insist this is not their belief).

ECONOMIST: Global economic imbalances

It may also reflect a glut of saving abroad.

ECONOMIST: Europe's and America's economies

In 2005 Ben Bernanke, now chairman of the Federal Reserve, pointed out that global interest rates were oddly low, suggesting a glut of saving abroad, not a shortfall of saving at home, was responsible for the flow of capital to America.

ECONOMIST: Global imbalances

It is too plentiful for small economies to spend, and has therefore added to the glut of global saving that is in part responsible for the financial excesses of recent years.

ECONOMIST: Gulf economies