Once again the sermon has been preached from on high: save more. On 20th May, Alistair Darling, the minister for work and pensions, told the House of Commons that "most people are not saving enough for their retirement". The same day, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) warned that as people live longer, they must save more if they are to avoid an impoverished old age. Down there in the pews, no one is paying any attention. Rather than saving more, consumers are on a borrowing binge. On May 21st, new figures showed that mortgage lenders had advanced a record ￡16.9 billion ($24.3 billion) in April. The recent borrowing boom has driven household saving down from around 10% of disposable income to about 5%.
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