> You mean investment by Americans, e.g., national saving?
> Otherwise gross investment/GDP is not so awful, no?
Not so awful right now, at the peak of the business cycle, but overall investment rates in the 1990s are noticeably lower in the US compared to the EU or East Asian countries. Which isn't the same thing as prospering, of course -- Thailand and South Korea had 35% investment rates in the mid-Nineties and got clobbered for their pains. Also, much of that investment is hideously toxic to people and the planet. In the total system, you're damn if you're underdeveloped, and even more damned if you're overdeveloped.
-- Dennis