Bills to expand individual retirement accounts have been introduced in both houses of Congress this year. While proponents argue that these accounts can help reverse the nation's declining saving rate, recent economic research suggests that the effect of the accounts on savings is in fact quite...

The paper by Steindel examines the impact on saving decisions of the expected future debt growth in the USA arising from the increase in pension and health spending. After having considered the long-term outlook of the main social programmes, pointing to the expected strains, the paper evaluates...