Net Savings are what you have after you've used some of your Gross Savings to replace worn-out or obsolete capital goods, such as buildings, vehicles, computers, etc. Net Savings represent unconsumed output--money which can actually be put to entirely new uses. When your Net Savings is positive, you have some extra money laying around which could be put to new and productive use. When your Net Savings is negative, you are in an annual deficit of funds--you spent more than you earned, and are going backward instead of forward. The US government is on track toward a sovereign debt crisis (eventually unable to service government bonds with full faith and credit). The trend began when LBJ ramped-up federal government spending and regulation back in 1964 (initiation of his Great Society programs). Total government deficit (federal+state+local) in 2009 was 11% of GDP. Add to that another 1-2% of GDP in inter-agency IOUs (intragovernmental debt)--the government's "insider-trading" of its own monopoly money. The economy of Greece failed when government deficits reached 15% of GDP. Because of being the world's foremost reserve currency, US bonds enjoy higher sales volume at lower yield--giving us an edge over Greece. To collapse the US economy, government deficits would have to reach about 16% of GDP--which could happen in the next decade or two. To prevent economic collapse, we could shrink government and expand the private sector (have the private sector provide more services, and the public sector provide less services). A good target is the federal government of 1950--which spent less than 16% of GDP and had less than 10,000 pages of regulations. #cosproject #economics #philosophy #politics