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1、美国家庭终于开始存钱(Hard-HitFamiliesFinallyStartSaving) RickandNoreenCapprecentlyreducedtheircredit-carddebt,openedasavingsaccountandstoppedtakingtheirtwochildrentorestaurants.JessicaandAlanMuirhavestartedbuyingchildren'sclothesatsteepmarkdowns,splittingbulk-foodpurchaseswithotherfamil
2、iesandgatheringtheirfirewoodinsteadofbuyingitfor$200acord. AslayoffsandstoreclosuresgripBoise,thesetwolocalfamilieshopetheirnewfoundfrugalitywillseethemthroughtheeconomicdownturn.Butthissamethriftiness,embracedbyfamiliesacrosstheU.S.,isalsoamajorreasonthedownturnmaynotsoonend
3、.Americans,freshoffadecadeslongbuyingspree,arefinallysavingmoreandspendingless--justastheeconomyneedstheirdollarsthemost. Usually,frugalityisgoodforindividualsandfortheeconomy.Savingsserveasareservoirofcapitalthatcanbeusedtofinanceinvestment,whichhelpsraiseanation'sstandardof
4、living.Butinarecession,increasedsaving--oritsflipside,decreasedspending--canexacerbatetheeconomy'swoes.It'swhateconomistscallthe'paradoxofthrift.' U.S.householddebt,whichhasbeengrowingsteadilysincetheFederalReservebegantrackingitin1952,declinedforthefirsttimeinthethirdquarter
5、of2008.Inthesamequarter,U.S.consumerspendinggrowthdeclinedforthefirsttimein17years. Thathasresultedinariseinthepersonalsavingrate,whichthegovernmentcalculatesasthedifferencebetweenearningsandexpenditures.Inrecentyears,asAmericansspentmorethantheyearned,thepersonalsavingratedi
6、ppedbelowzero.Economistsnowexpecttheratetoreboundto3%to5%,orevenhigher,in2009,amongthesharpestreversalssinceWorldWarII.GoldmanSachslastweekpredictedthe2009savingratecouldbeashighas6%to10%. Assavingsincrease,economistssay,spendingislikelytocontractfurther.Theyexpectgrossdomest
7、icproducttodeclineatanannualizedrateofatleast5%inthefourthquarter,thebiggestdropinaquarter-century. 'TheideathattheAmericanfamilywillquicklyspendusoutofthisrecessionisafantasy.Itwon'thappen,'saidElizabethWarren,aprofessoroflawatHarvardUniversitywholastmonthwasnamedchairoftheC
8、ongressionaloversightpaneltaskedwithoverseeingthedistribution
