The saving rate, measured by the Board’s flow of funds accounts, is higher, at 4 percent of disposable income, though it, too, is significantly lower than its average level in the past. Analysis by Board staff using data from the SCF indicate that households in the top income quintile can account for nearly all of the decline in the aggregate saving rate since 1989.
The markets are mutually reinforcing, but, ideally, the competitive conditions in all the markets need to be broadly in sync and avoid serious mis-alignments with each other.