cjpraharaj
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- Apr 23, 2012
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Statistics available on the internet shows that the savings rate in Greece ( as a percentage of GDP ) has declined drastically and is far lower than most economies with comparable per capita GDPs. The investment ratio ( as a percentage of GDP or GNP ) has not declined as much, most probably due to foreign investment in Greece. Does anyone have any thoughts about whether the Greek government tried to take pro-active steps to prevent the savings ratio from declining to its present pathetic state ?
Monetary or fiscal schemes designed to make the level of savings in the economy increase will probably have limited effect on overall savings rate since monetary and fiscal policies have to achieve other objectives too. Moreover, Greece does not have an independent central bank, and even if it did, a central bank has only a few policy instruments and other concerns like inflation and unemployment. And the ability of governments to induce people to save more, say, by offering high interest-rate schemes ( for example, some kind of infrastructure bonds or similar financial instruments ), is limited by other fiscal policy concerns. How about drastic policy options like imposing some kind of tax at the source and putting the money in an investment fund of specific duration ( not necessarily a mandatory retirement account, but something along those lines, of shorter duration ) ? Does anyone have any thought about whether the low savings ratio in Greece is a response to the economic weakness it has been experiencing and the economic problems it has been having, or whether it is due to a drastic change in consumer preferences and the spending habits of the people or whether it is due to different allocations of profits by businesses ?
Monetary or fiscal schemes designed to make the level of savings in the economy increase will probably have limited effect on overall savings rate since monetary and fiscal policies have to achieve other objectives too. Moreover, Greece does not have an independent central bank, and even if it did, a central bank has only a few policy instruments and other concerns like inflation and unemployment. And the ability of governments to induce people to save more, say, by offering high interest-rate schemes ( for example, some kind of infrastructure bonds or similar financial instruments ), is limited by other fiscal policy concerns. How about drastic policy options like imposing some kind of tax at the source and putting the money in an investment fund of specific duration ( not necessarily a mandatory retirement account, but something along those lines, of shorter duration ) ? Does anyone have any thought about whether the low savings ratio in Greece is a response to the economic weakness it has been experiencing and the economic problems it has been having, or whether it is due to a drastic change in consumer preferences and the spending habits of the people or whether it is due to different allocations of profits by businesses ?