An assessment of the effects of proposed reductions in income and Social Security taxes on middle-income Americans and of cuts in health care spending, using the generational accounting method to examine their likely impact on both current and future national saving rates.

There are two major differences between Japan and the United States in the way saving is calculated in their national accounts. First, depreciation in Japanese national accounts is based on historical costs, which leads to an understatement of true depreciation and hence an overstatement of net...

Two contemporary issues provide reason to focus on national saving and investment: the debate over public pensions, and pensions more generally, in all rich countries; and the large global current account imbalances, conceptually the difference between national savings and domestic investment....

Although the role of financial constraints on entrepreneurial choices has received considerable attention, the effects of these constraints on aggregate capital accumulation and wealth inequality are less known. Entrepreneurship is an important determinant of capital accumulation and wealth...

A recent survey reveals some surprising results about who is saving and what assets they hold.

When the poor succeed in building up a few assets, they often find themselves disqualified from badly needed government programs. Confusing rules about IRAs and 401(k)s plus conflicting state regulations make retirement saving particularly challenging.

The financial intermediary is shown to result from a market imperfection related to the costly monitoring of the actions of consumers. In such an environment complete insurance is not obtainable and consumers respond by holding some of their wealth as precautionary balances in order to...

Most households persistently invest in riskless assets but not stocks, and may do so because they perceive the information required for market participation to be costly relative to expected benefits. In a CCAPM, increased risk aversion, income risk, and lower resources reduce the information...