China would stimulate import potentials, conform to the trend of domestic consumption upgrading, take more active and effective measures, promote the increase of household income and cultivate high end consumption growth points.

Forest resource issues have however been addressed primarily as part of an analysis of energy consumption in sub Saharan Africa, where fuelwood and charcoal are the major energy sources, particularly for household consumption.

The usual assumption is that household consumption falls by around 0.05 for each 1 decline in household wealth. This would mean a direct negative shock to household spending in the US of around 5 of national income, and of around 3.5 in Europe and Asia.

But it is not all good news in China s economy, because low consumption remains a big weakness. Household consumption only accounted for 34 of GDP and total consumption is less than 50 of GDP in 2007. That weakness, however, is institutional and cannot be easily corrected in the short run.

But it did little to revive household consumption, which accounts for about 70 of the US economy. In fact, since early 2008, annualized growth in real consumer expenditure has averaged a mere 1.3 the most anemic period of consumption growth on record.

Today s problems are compounded by a lack of sufficient private demand particularly household consumption in the advanced economies to compensate for demand losses stemming from austerity. During the last two decades, consumption drove these countries economic growth, reaching historically high GDP shares.

Provision of decent and secure shelter and of safe drinking water and basic sanitation are key contributors to sustainable consumption and production, as well as to household welfare.

The hard part of fully realizing potential growth is shifting the composition of domestic demand from consumption to investment without adding leverage. That means paying for it on the public sector side, via taxes and a reduction in household consumption (and in wealth accumulation).

At under 40 of GDP compared to at least 60 in advanced economies Chinese household consumption certainly has space to grow. But China s economy remains prone to considerable risks.

But in 2003, following five years of deflation, China s economy entered a new phase. Overcapacity vanished, constraints on consumption were lifted, and a dramatic increase in household demand followed.

Consumer spending in China now accounts for just 36 of GDP, about half the consumption share of GDP in the United States and Western Europe. This remarkably low level reflects both the small share of household income in total GDP and the high rate of household saving.

Infrastructure investment will inevitably run up against the law of diminishing marginal returns, but consumption growth does not have a limit. Suppressing consumption thus suffocates future growth, and the share of household consumption in GDP has declined from 67 in the mid 1990 s to below 50 in recent years, with most of the decline reflecting the distortions created by government policies.

Bertrand and Morse find that in the years before the crisis, in areas (usually states) where consumption was high among households in the top fifth of the income distribution, household consumption was high at lower income levels as well. After ruling out a number of possible explanations, they concluded that poorer households imitated the consumption patterns of richer households in their area.

If all households curbed their expenditures, total consumption would fall, and so, too, would demand for labor. If the housewife s husband loses his job, the household will be worse off than before.

Indeed, while China s new stimulus plan overwhelmingly emphasizes infrastructure, it gives short shrift to social programs, such as health care and education, even though they can reduce household saving pressure and increase private consumption.

Growing income inequality in most countries before the Great Recession only made matters worse, by reducing household savings and increasing credit for consumption and asset purchases, rather than augmenting investment in new economic capacity.

Finally, the entry of women into economic life has a further positive impact, namely the increase of household income thus favouring demand and consumption of goods and services, as well as saving and investment.

The world is undergoing an unprecedented and irreversible wave of urbanization, with the share of the global population living in cities set to reach 60 by 2030. But rapid urbanization is driving up industrial fossil fuel consumption and household water consumption, and is increasing demand for food in areas where arable land is scarce.

Stagnating middle class wages and family incomes are a major factor behind the US economy s slow recovery from the 2007 2009 recession, and pose a serious threat to long term growth and competitiveness. Household consumption accounts for more than two thirds of aggregate demand, and consumption growth depends on income growth for the bottom 90 .

Consumption, which accounts for about 70 of total spending, is constrained by high unemployment, weak wage gains, and a steep decline in home values and consumer wealth. The uptick in consumption in the last months of 2011 was financed by a decline in the household saving rate and a large increase in consumer credit.

In 2008, it was a combination of exploding asset prices and excessive household sector leverage that fueled the global financial crisis. When such a debt fueled bubble bursts, its effects are transmitted directly to the real economy via household sector balance sheets, with the reduction in consumption contributing to a decline in employment and private investment.

China faces a similar demographic trend, and also a push to unleash household consumption in order to sustain GDP growth. As in Japan, the downward trend in China s saving rate will show up in its current account.

Activate rural consumption, guide the demand for healthy consumption.

We're actually measuring its oxygen consumption, its energy consumption.

Baseline as the average consumption in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998 Freeze on consumption in 2002 20 reduction in consumption in 2005 Phase out of consumption by 2015.

Baseline as the average consumption in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998 Freeze on consumption in 2002 20 reduction in consumption in 2005 Phase out of consumption by 2015.

I think it starts household by household, under the same roof.

Consumption

Large losses in household wealth, deleveraging from unsustainable debt, weak wage growth, and a decline in labor s share of national income to a historic low have combined to constrain consumption growth. Real median household income is still nearly 7 below its 2007 peak, real median household net worth dropped by 35 between 2005 and 2010 (and remains significantly below its pre recession peak), and about 90 of the income gains during the recovery have gone to the top 1 .

Economic performance in the United States and the United Kingdom holds an important lesson for the eurozone. Both economies recoveries have been driven largely by a pickup in consumption on the back of stronger household balance sheets, especially in the US.

Likewise, with household consumption and business investment collapsing, governments will soon become the spenders of first and only resort, stimulating demand and rescuing banks, firms, and households. The long term consequences of the resulting surge in fiscal deficits are serious.

NEW YORK Some economists overlook the modern idea that a country s prosperity depends on innovation and entrepreneurship. They take the mechanistic view that prosperity is a matter of employment, and that employment is determined by demand government spending, household consumption, and investment demand.

With a tax, the costs are obvious. With a cap and trade system, the costs in terms of jobs, household consumption, and economic growth are hidden, shifted around, and not easy to estimate, though models indicate they will run into trillions of dollars.

The US economy s distinctive features for at least a decade prior to the crisis that began in 2008 were an unsustainably high level of consumption, owing to an illusory wealth effect, under investment (including in the public sector), and savings that fell short of the investment deficiency. That excess household and government consumption fueled the domestic economy and much of the global economy as well.

Consumption 13 14

(e) Consumption in 2002 was higher than the Baseline because consumption grew rapidly from 2000.

(e) Consumption in 2002 was higher than the Baseline because consumption grew rapidly from 2000.

UNICEF will continue to promote affordable, safe household toilets, home water treatment and improved household hygiene.

(iii) Housing and Household

This convergence will contribute to more sustainable economic growth, with Asia s economies rebalancing toward domestic demand, especially household consumption, and thereby becoming less vulnerable to external shocks. Given the decline in export demand since the global economic crisis, this shift could not be timelier.

MUNICH With global rebalancing set to be high on the agenda at the next G 7 and G 20 meetings, Germany, with its persistent export surplus, will again come under pressure to boost domestic demand and household consumption. But the German consumer is a sideshow.

BEIJING China s 12th Five Year Plan calls for a shift in the country s economic model from export led growth toward greater reliance on domestic demand, particularly household consumption. Since the Plan s introduction, China s current account surplus as a share of GDP has indeed fallen.

The size of this downturn is so large that unemployment will rise sharply in all major regions of the world economy, perhaps reaching 9 10 in the US. Households will gradually save enough to restore their wealth, and household consumption will gradually recover as well.

The private sector s growth is hemmed in by its inability to invest in economic sectors that the government still monopolizes. Mounting regional disparities, as well as the widening urban rural divide, impede household consumption growth, increasing the economy s dependence on exports and foreign investment.

MB consumption (metric tonnes)