Obviously, people with low or even moderate incomes could not afford such savings rates, and even diligent savings from their low wages would not be enough to pay for either retirement or healthcare.
The regime of globalization promotes an unfettered marketplace as the dynamic instrument organizing international relations.
The burnt odor in Washington is from the disintegrating authority of the governing classes.
The do-it-yourself version of pensions is a flop, as many Americans have painfully learned.
As the world's finest democracy, we do not do guillotines. But there are other less bloody rituals of humiliation, designed to reassure the populace that order is restored, the Republic cleansed.
If we have wealth, it will be protected from inflation and possibly even enhanced in value.
If US per capita income continues to grow at a rate of 1.5 percent a year, the country will have plenty of money to finance comfortable retirements and high-quality healthcare for all citizens, including those at the bottom of the wage ladder.
Folks in the bottom half of the economy are already squeezed hard. They will be bloodied and bankrupt if economic policy inadvertently induces a recession.
Leaks and whispers are a daily routine of news-gathering in Washington.
The threat to globalization is not the wasted American dollars but Washington's readiness to mix US commercial interests with its self-appointed role as global protector.
Nevertheless, I resist cynicism and continue to believe in the possibilities for genuine democracy.