Update 10/30/2019

Rate Cuts Today

Debt & Money Markets

In 2010, average Chinese workers saved 39 cents of every dollar of income. Today, it is 33 cents. Many young Chinese save nothing at all. Household bank balances have soared more than 1000% since 2000, faster than the nearly 800% expansion in GDP during that period—a wealth accumulation unmatched by any country in modern times. Households will owe 68 cents per dollar of GDP by 2024. U.S. consumer debt is 78 cents per dollar. (WSJ)

Population in Decline

An estimated 3,788,235 people born in the USA in 2018, a 2% decrease from 2017 and the lowest number of births in any year since 1986, according to a report published by the National Center for Health Statistics. The birthrate among women in their early 20s declined 5% in 2018 and has dropped an average of 4% each year since 2007. It is now 1,728 births per 1,000 women (similar to England, but 15% higher than in Canada). Without immigration, the US population size would be in decline.  (NY TIMES)