Since 1957 the economy of the United States has been marked by an alarmingly slow rate of growth, deficient demand, and growing unemployment. As has happened before, the specter of secular inflation has been replaced by the specter of secular stagnation. Recent events have started many wondering whether the U. S. economy is saving too much-at least relative to the investment outlets available in the private sector of the economy. In a sense, this appears to have been the case, but largely because of budgetary behavior in the Federal sector. This source of the recent slowdown