With households focused on repairing severely damaged balance sheets, inflation-adjusted private consumption has expanded at an anemic 0.5% average annual rate over the past four years. Consumer deleveraging is likely to persist for years to come, leaving the US increasingly desperate for new sources of growth.
中国不应该被戴上美国首要经济威胁的帽子，中美贸易关系应该被当做是一个机会。美国总需求的最大组成部分——消费者——目前很不给力。家庭正在忙于修复严重受损的资产负债表，过去四年来，经通胀调整的私人消费年平均增长率只有区区0.5%。消费者去杠杆化可能还会持续几年，这使得美国需要竭尽全力寻找新的增长源。