To defend its negative interest rate policy (NIRP), The European Central Bank (ECB) has on several occasions implied that savers are driving the Eurozone's economic malaise, and if NIRP encourages them to spend and consume more, growth will return. On May 1, 2016, ECB Executive Board member Benoit Coeure wrote an op-ed piece in a German newspaper, in which he claimed that the euro area is generating excess savings of over 3% of its GDP, which has put downward pressure on interest rates. 3% is not a huge savings rate, and to many thrifty Germans, it sounded like a battle cry for central bankers' war on their savings:
About a year ago, The Wall Street Journal published a tongue-in-cheek letter to American Consumers, in which it bemoaned a strong U.S. Personal Savings Rate and encouraged consumers to spend more: "Do you know the American economy is counting on you? We can't count on the rest of the world to spend money on our stuff…You should feel lucky you're not a Greek consumer." The piece was widely considered to represent sentiment inside the Federal Reserve, mainly because it was written by the Journal's Fed mouthpiece, Jon Hilsenrath, and signed "The Wall Street Journal's Central Bank Team."
More recently, in May, The Washington Post published a feature article "Unemployment is down. Gas prices are low. Why isn't America shopping?" The Post said that because of sales declines, the U.S. retailing industry is "increasing efforts to find new tactics to get shoppers to open their wallets more."

It's a good time to help your clients double-check their savings disciplines, while reminding them that there are many strong influences at work– conscious and subliminal – to undermine them. Part of the reason central banks around the world have implemented ultra-low interest rates is to discourage saving and encourage consumption. It reflects an unusual environment in which policymakers may be starting to lose control of monetary policy – all the more reason for clients to save more!

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It's time to help clients double-check their savings discipline

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