Accelerated with the shale boom, still decelerating with the shale bust:

Problem is incentives to not spend income, as below, reduce sales, output, and employment. That is, they’ve got it backwards if the goal is increased GDP etc.

Japan mulls longer-term tax break for savers

Aug 18 (Nikkei) — The Japanese government plans to offer a new option for tax-free investment accounts featuring a much longer exemption. More than 10 million of the so-called NISA accounts were opened between the program’s 2014 launch and this past March. But the rate of new sign-ups is slowing, and just over half of the accounts have never been used. Only a handful of people hit the 1.2 million-yen ($11,900) annual investment limit. The NISA accounts allow individuals to accumulate wealth for up to five years without paying taxes on capital gains or dividends on investments in stocks and mutual funds.

Someone agrees with me!

The truth is the economy is most likely already in a recession and there never was a viable economic recovery. Investors need to keep their eyes open as equity prices march further into all-time high territory. And, most importantly, have a strategy to protect their portfolios once sanity returns to the market.
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/18/heres-proof-that-the-economic-recovery-is-over-commentary.html