China's excess savings is the result of a low consumption share of GDP (which means a low household income share of GDP), because consumption is just negative savings and if China saves the most in the world, it consumes the least; the problem is not that Chinese people won't spend, but that they don't have the income to spend.
causalpending
Speaker
Michael PettisEvidence Quote
“To say that China has the highest saving rate in the world is exactly the same as China has the lowest consumption rate in the world...That's why it has to run trade surpluses”
Source
Michael Pettis: China’s Consumption Crisis Is The World’s Crisis— The Monetary Matters NetworkCreated: 8/11/2026, 7:43:21 AM
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