The United States Department of Commerce has issued a statement proclaiming that personal income grew faster in September than in any other month since August 1999. This growth is largely due to the increase in federal farm subsidies which boosted personal income by $61 billion.
             Private wage and salary disbursements also increased by over $25 billion in September, adding to the total personal income bump up. The Department of Commerce said that the net personal income increased by 1.1% in September while the disposable personal income (adjusted for taxes and inflation) increased by 0.7%.
             The advanced gross domestic product also indicates that consumer spending is still on the rise. It is growing at an annual rate of 4.5%. In recent years, consumer spending has been boosted by the initial increase in personal income, better quality of products, and higher expectations for future wealth. In the last quarter, there has been a dramatic increase in the purchases of durable goods, especially automobiles. The automobile market experiences alternating on and off periods of demand depending on the durability of new cars and the attraction of new technological advances.
             Investment has also increased in the past quarter. Business investments in equipment and software increased at an annual rate of 8.5 percent. This increase is partially due to the high expectations for future returns in the technology markets. The increase in investment has produced a greater economic capacity, higher productivity, and weaker inflationary pressures in the national markets.
             However, the drastically increasing consumer spending has in the past year outgrown personal income. This means that personal savings have become negative. If placed on aggregate expenditures vs. aggregate output chart, the consumer spending + investments curve will fall underneath the 45-degree line. The public is spending more than it is earning, effectively dipping into saving...