What accounts for the trend break in the euro zone’s investment-savings equilibrium after the 2008 crisis?

After the 2008 crisis, a sizeable and enduring savings surplus over investment appeared in the euro zone despite its increasingly expansionary monetary policy. To understand the euro-zone economy, it is important to understand the causes of these excess savings over investment: When we examine the components of savings and investment, we see that the euro zone’s excess savings result from a fall in investment, especially in housing, fiscal deficit reduction and a rise in corporate savings; Fundamentally, this results from: The interruption of capital flows between the euro-zone countries, which in many countries required reductions in the fiscal deficit and in investment; Household and corporate deleveraging; The fall in interest payments, which has boosted corporate profits.