In 2009, Medicaid spent over $75 billion on 5.3 million elderly beneficiaries. This article describes the Medicaid rules for the elderly and discusses their economic implications.

Using data from the Asset and Health Dynamics of the Oldest Old survey, the authors find that the assets of people who die decline much faster than the assets of people who survive, even after controlling for age, sex, and initial asset levels. Out-of-pocket medical expenses right before death...

In 2009, Medicaid spent over $75 billion on 5.3 million elderly beneficiaries. This article describes the Medicaid rules for the elderly and discusses their economic implications.

This article studies income inequality in five countries and compares the redistributive consequences of taxes and transfers across these countries.

Using data from the Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances, the authors examine characteristics of entrepreneurs and the businesses they run. Their analysis confirms that business owners are important sources of saving and wealth creation in the U.S. and that they are less risk...

The authors explain the role of asset-backed securities markets in generating credit and liquidity and how this role was disrupted during the financial crisis. They discuss the implementation of the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) and argue that this program helped reestablish...

This article presents evidence on the extent to which households run down their assets after retirement. The authors show that, once corrections are made for several econometric problems, households engage in very little asset decumulation after retirement.

The authors provide evidence that households run down their assets after retirement by tracking a group of elderly households over the 1996–2004 period. They find that assets decline for these households approaching the end of the life cycle. Had there not been a run-up in asset prices due in...

Consumers’ expected income growth declined significantly during the Great Recession. It was the most severe drop ever observed in these data, and expectations have not yet fully recovered. Furthermore, this article shows that expected income growth is a strong predictor of actual future income...

Using data the Health and Retirement Survey and the Assets and Health Dynamics among the Oldest Old, this article provides an empirical analysis of the determinants of whether an individual purchases health insurance. The authors describe the relationship between health costs and health care...