Individuals can claim Social Security at any age from 62 to 70 although most claim at 62 or soon thereafter. Those who delay claiming receive increases that are approximately actuarially fair. We show that expected present value calculations substantially understate both the optimal claim age...

This paper assesses China's Renminbi peg to the U.S. dollar using a structural VAR model. One unique contribution of the paper is that we model China as a large open economy in one structural VAR model with the U.S. by utilizing combinations of short- and long-run identification restrictions and...

Between 1995 and 2007, inflation-adjusted house prices more than doubled in some areas of the United States. During this unprecedented boom, households spent more and reduced their saving rate. A key question is how much of the increased spending was related to rising house prices, as opposed to...