Western banks, companies and money markets are attracting more money from vast Chinese savings than they can cope with, pushing up share and property prices, and driving down savings rates
A link between Chinas multibillion-dollar obsession with spectacular wedding ceremonies and the path of Britains interest rate policy is not immediately obvious. But look east and it is possible to see how nuptials in Shanghai are going to keep UK interest rates low for a decade or more.
Chinas savings rate has jumped from about 16% of disposable income in 1990 to over 30% in the last few years. According to Shang-Jin Wei, a professor of Chinese business and economy at Columbia Business School, about half of this rush to accumulate can be attributed to the rise in the number of boy births versus girls, and the consequent need for young men to throw ever more extravagant weddings to attract a wife.
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