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A nation of spendthrifts? An analysis of trends in personal and gross saving

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  • Richard Peach
  • Charles Steindel

Abstract

The steep drop in the U.S. personal saving rate over the last decade has fueled speculation that Americans are spending recklessly. But alternative measures of personal saving show that households are actually setting aside a larger share of their resources than the official figures suggest. In addition, government saving has risen markedly, leading to an increase in overall domestic saving that has helped finance a surge in U.S. investment.

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  • Richard Peach & Charles Steindel, 2000. "A nation of spendthrifts? An analysis of trends in personal and gross saving," Current Issues in Economics and Finance, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 6(Sep).
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fednci:y:2000:i:sep:n:v.6no.10
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. A Lusardi & J Skinner & S Venti, 2001. "Saving puzzles and saving policies in the United States," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 17(1), pages 95-115, Spring.
    2. Barry Z. Cynamon & Steven M. Fazzari, 2013. "Inequality and Household Finance during the Consumer Age," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_752, Levy Economics Institute.
    3. Hubertus Bardt & Michael Groemling, 2004. "Savings in Germany and the United States," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 5(1), pages 40-47, October.
    4. Phillip Anthony O'Hara, 2003. "Deep Recession and Financial Instability or a New Long Wave of Economic Growth for U.S. Capitalism? A Regulation School Approach," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 35(1), pages 18-43, March.
    5. Leonard I. Nakamura, 2001. "What is the U.S. gross investment in intangibles? (At least) one trillion dollars a year!," Working Papers 01-15, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    6. Scherrer, Christoph, 2001. "New economy: Explosive growth driven by a productivity revolution?," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Regulation of Work FS II 01-204, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    7. ., 2014. "The case against interest: is it compelling?," Chapters, in: Morality and Justice in Islamic Economics and Finance, chapter 5, pages 137-162, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Charles Steindel, 2001. "The effect of tax changes on consumer spending," Current Issues in Economics and Finance, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 7(Dec).
    9. Engsted, Tom, 2002. "Measuring noise in the Permanent Income Hypothesis," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 353-370, September.
    10. Charles Steindel, 2007. "How worrisome is a negative saving rate?," Current Issues in Economics and Finance, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 13(May).
    11. Francesco Sarracino & Małgorzata Mikucka, 2019. "Consume More, Work Longer, and Be Unhappy: Possible Social Roots of Economic Crisis?," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 14(1), pages 59-84, March.
    12. Bosworth, Barry & Collins, Susan M., 2010. "Rebalancing the US Economy in a Postcrisis World," ADBI Working Papers 236, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    13. Michael Walden, 2012. "Will Households Change Their Saving Behaviour After the “Great Recession”? The Role of Human Capital," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 237-254, June.
    14. Charles Steindel, 2007. "Household saving and wealth accumulation in the U.S," IFC Bulletins chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), Proceedings of the IFC Conference on "Measuring the financial position of the household sector", Basel, 30-31 August 2006 - Volume 1, volume 25, pages 58-70, Bank for International Settlements.
    15. Schüssler, Reinhard & Funke, Claudia, 2002. "Vermögensbildung und Vermögensverteilung: Der Prozess der Vermögensbildung und die Vermögensverteilung bei den Privaten Haushalten in Deutschland. Analyse und Zukunftsszenarien," Study / edition der Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Düsseldorf, volume 74, number 74, March.
    16. Bardt, Hubertus & Grömling, Michael, 2003. "Sparen in Deutschland und den USA," IW-Trends – Vierteljahresschrift zur empirischen Wirtschaftsforschung, Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW) / German Economic Institute, vol. 30(3), pages 30-40.
    17. Wynne Godley & Alex Izurieta, 2001. "As The Implosion Begins . . .? Prospects and Policies for the U.S. Economy: A Strategic View," Economics Strategic Analysis Archive 01-7, Levy Economics Institute.

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