Dear Roger, and all

Thanks for the thoughts.  On 3rd century economic matters etc, these were
added just to give my question context, and I agree this is not the place to
pursue them

My question concerns specifically the variation in the propensity to save in
general, which I construe as slightly different from the variation in saving
rates, as I am enquiring more concerning the different factors that lie
behind any variations.  Work turning up on google scholar, such as that
cited recently, seems to me to treat the matter in a rather brief,
peripheral, and potentially question begging way.  This puzzles me, as the
question, why are the Chinese saving so much, when UK citizens save so
little seems a topical and obvious one, which ought to have some historical
precedents, and thus I assumed the whole matter might have some fairly
prominent place in the literature.

But that too is clearly peripheral to group interests, so I guess it is time
to thank all for your thoughts and move on.  After browsing the archives, I
do have a different question which seems more relevant to group interests.  

Rob Tye