Dr. Mike Walden, North Carolina Cooperative Extension economist in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at N.C. State University, responds:

"Well, the numbers do look bleak. The official saving rate has actually plunged to only one percent, and in the last 15 years, households have taken on debt at a rate twice as fast as the growth of their income. But as you say, there really is more to the story. Financial experts look not just at debt and the growth in debt, but they also look at the ability of households to carry that debt by focusing also on their assets. And here's the deal. You can save money in two ways. You can save it by taking money out of your paycheck, putting it into investments and watching it grow. Or the money you already have in investments can be growing, and that can be getting savings for you.

"The fact is that household savings has been growing a lot in the last 20 years through their already invested-in assets, things like stocks, bonds and even housing. And furthermore, when you look at household debt compared to household assets, actually household debt is smaller relative to assets. In fact, what that means is the net worth of households - which is their assets minus debts - is actually now at an all time high. So this certainly does paint a bigger picture and a better picture of the household financial situation. But it's all keyed on their assets. If assets start to fall because of decline in housing values or a decline in the stock market, then these numbers are also going to decline."