> Other strong elements: "defense" (up 44% in real annualized terms!)
> and consumer durables (mostly motor vehicles).
Central Europe has also been perking up. The ECB's July report says Eurozone monetary growth is steaming along at 9%, and the Euro governments have wisely junked the Maastricht limits, so Euro/Asia liquidity plus a small amount of military Keynesianism is keeping things afloat, for now.
None of which changes anything structural about the US decline. The ECB stats show a gap between savings and investment of 5% of GDP (savings at 14.5%, investment at 18.5%). The US net international investment position continues to fall down a mine shaft, and those debts will have to be repaid, sooner or later. But it does look as though the Euro/Asiabourgies will get the soft landing they wanted.
-- DRR