This paper studies the effects of demographic structure on the cyclical volatility of aggregate consumption. We first document that young households have more volatile consumption expenditures in business cycles than prime-aged ones. Then, we identify large effects of demographic composition on...

Aggregate economic activity was heavily influenced by the construction sector's expansion, collapse, and failure to revive during the interwar years. The 1920s building boom was the first to respond to the potential of the automobile and the last to be largely unplanned. Its uncoordinated...