摘要：Not only did private households in the United States.
save less than German households in the 1990s, their
savings rate also decreased faster. If, however, public
and business savings are taken into account, the dif-
ference between both countries’ savings rates seems
less significant. Furthermore, the US overall savings
rate rose for several years while Germany’s declined
constantly. Interest rate developments are partly
responsible for the diminishing propensity to save of
private households in both countries.A better labour
market performance, higher and rising wealth, and
success in balancing the public budget weakened the
savings efforts in the United States.A rising old-age
dependency ratio in Germany reduced the savings of
private households. Since the United States are high-
ly attractive for international investors, investment
there was financed more easily by foreign capital.
