> More so, if
> a nation has a high savings rate, it can, at least in theory, pay off it's
> foreign debts and suddenly start accumulating income flow from other
> countries.
The thing is, East Asia got rich not by saving, but by high rates of internal investment, fuelled by massive bank borrowing (exports to the rich countries helped in the beginning, but today East Asia trades mostly with itself). That's the magic of credit: you can "create" fictitious savings out of thin air, via the promise to repay those savings out of future earnings. The whole savings debate sort of obscures the much more important issue of investment -- who controls it, what its social priorities are, who ultimately benefits from it, etc.
-- Dennis