yawning deficits, meager savings rate

greenspan today on the deficit, social entitlement, and individual debt:

“Has something fundamental happened to the U.S. economy and, by extension, U.S. banking that enables us to disregard all the time-tested criteria of imbalance and economic danger?” he asked.

Then, answering his own question, he said: “Regrettably, the answer is no. The free lunch has still to be invented.”