When the financial crisis happened, Americans, collectively, decided to save more and spend less.
The problem with that is that collectively Americans can never have more money than what we borrow; we must always owe more than what we have; and people are able to save only to the extent that other people go into debt.
That is, except for the government. While private sector balances always net to zero (or less than that, when bank capital is taken into account), the private sector can have a positive net balance when the government spends more than what it has. In fact, that is the only way the private sector can, collectively, either pay down its debt, or increase its savings. (Leaving aside a trade surplus.)
The financial crisis, in other words, created a situation where there was inadequate demand for debt, coupled with an unmet demand for savings.
When people (collectively) choose to save rather than spend, the result is unemployment. Unemployment, however, does nothing to resolve the problem The only way to resolve it is for people to decide to save less, or for the demand for additional savings to be met.
The only way to meet the demand for additional savings is for the government to go deeper into debt.
The problem with that is that collectively Americans can never have more money than what we borrow; we must always owe more than what we have; and people are able to save only to the extent that other people go into debt.
That is, except for the government. While private sector balances always net to zero (or less than that, when bank capital is taken into account), the private sector can have a positive net balance when the government spends more than what it has. In fact, that is the only way the private sector can, collectively, either pay down its debt, or increase its savings. (Leaving aside a trade surplus.)
The financial crisis, in other words, created a situation where there was inadequate demand for debt, coupled with an unmet demand for savings.
When people (collectively) choose to save rather than spend, the result is unemployment. Unemployment, however, does nothing to resolve the problem The only way to resolve it is for people to decide to save less, or for the demand for additional savings to be met.
The only way to meet the demand for additional savings is for the government to go deeper into debt.