effect of wealth shocks on household consumption and individual expectations of the future. Many household experienced a … significant wealth shocks, but these shocks led to modest spending effects and small revisions to expectations regarding future … bequests. Expectations of bequests seem particularly tied to housing wealth. …

lack of reliable panel data on household expenditures. One possibility is to use surveys that follow the same households … alternative approach is to use the accounting identity that total household spending is equal to income plus capital gains minus … the change in wealth over the period. The goal of this paper is to examine the advantages and difficulties of using this …