For the past few decades US consumer demand has done a lot of heavy lifting for the global economy. Why can't more of this come from other big markets like Germany or China?
They did start there though, that's for sure!
High German savings was one of the things that led to the Euro crisis, since you cannot simultaneously run trade surpluses with all your neighbors and then be surprised when they are running deficits as a result. In the same vein, Chinese over-saving has led to a domestic property bubble that is a house of cards waiting to fall apart once people can invest their savings in something that isn't an apartment.
As far as your point about global goods, I don't think that China, a place where hundreds of thousands of infants were poisoned due to illegal substitutions in baby formula, and people get told to look for reused "gutter oil" in street food, has a leg to stand on when it comes to food safety.
If a country saves too much forex, one can slap sanctions on them for being a "currency manipulator". If a firm saves too much cash on hand, one can find a corporate raider (which the germans and chinese also have) to make a hostile LBO.
However, for thrifty households, there don't appear to be any similar sticks, only carrots. How would you propose to incentivise german and chinese households to consume more than they do?
