The U.S. personal saving rate's negative turn in 2005 has raised concerns that Americans may have to curtail their spending and accept a lower standard of living as they pay off rising debts. However, a closer look at saving trends suggests that the risks to household well-being are overstated....

The authors develop a life-cycle model to study the effects of house price changes on household consumption and welfare. The model explicitly incorporates the dual feature of housing as both a consumption good and an investment asset and allows for costly adjustments in housing and mortgage...

An argument that despite complaints about the persistent U.S.-Japanese trade imbalance, enacting policies to restrict Japan's access to our markets will have few lasting effects on either country's overall trade balance, and that trade imbalances are instead appropriate reflections of domestic...

Americans are saving less than they used to. At the same time, they are spending more years in retirement, and Social Security still has long-term financial shortfalls. The author finds that most American households must raise their saving rates considerably if they are to maintain their current...

An examination of the decline in the net national saving rate since the early 1980s, which identifies an ongoing, fiscally induced wealth redistribution toward older generations and a sizable gain in annuitized forms of saving as underlying reasons.

A look at how four trends in the U.S. economy -- high taxes, low savings rates, an aging population, and astronomically high health care costs -- could constrain Americans' living standards over the next few decades.

Some retirement plans allow the participant to choose how funds are invested. Having to direct investments may provide the participant with financial education. This paper finds that households covered by pension plans in which the employee chooses investments are significantly more apt to hold...