The Japan problem was not the savings rate. The problem was the government propping up failing institutions for years, instead of just letting them go down. We need to start saving. Let the retail and services based economy decline. Let the creative and manufacturing based economy grow. Export. Krugman and company are going to kill the dollar.
Even in the face of a highly devalued dollar, the US is simply no longer equipped to shift to a manufacturing base. The cost structure for any manufacturing company that relies on labor is too high for any margin of competition due to current laws.
If the dollar dies, especially if doing so removes its status as a reserve currency for much of the world's economies, the US economy/nation-state will be in for a long time of restructuring.
The only part of the economy I see any potential real growth is the creative sector. That too is in some serious trouble with the number of science/engineering grads decreasing and the test scores for science and math being as dismal as they are for high schoolers.
