Although saving is a necessary condition for financing the capital investment required to engender productivity, it is not a sufficient condition. The very high saving rates of the Soviet Union, of China, and of India in earlier decades often did not foster significant productivity growth in those countries. Saving squandered in financing inefficient technologies does not advance living standards.
In light of the uncertain link between saving and productivity growth, it is difficult to measure the exact extent to which our relatively low gross national saving rate will limit the future growth of an efficient capital stock.