U.S. GDP growth is less attractive than it seems. Half the annualized 3.2 percent first-quarter increase comes from a swing from modest inventory de-stocking to restocking. That means real final sales grew only 1.6 percent, a little more slowly than in the previous quarter. More importantly, consumption rose more rapidly than personal disposable income, reducing the savings rate, while imports swelled more rapidly than exports, pushing up the payments deficit. The U.S. economy seems to be tilting toward the structural imbalances of 2002-07; it's all suggestive of the stubborn French Bourbon kings who Tallyrand said had "learned nothing and forgotten nothing".
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