Rising house prices affect household spending by either loosening a household's lifetime budget constraint (pure wealth effect) or the household's borrowing constraint so that consumption rises toward the level implied by the consumption Euler equation (borrowing collateral effect). The...

Deleveraging is the process by which households decide that their level of debt is inconsistent with their revised economic outlook and adjust their leverage accordingly, primarily by substituting debt repayment for consumption. Household deleveraging is a commonly cited reason for the sluggish...

This paper analyzes household formation in the United States using data from two cohorts of the national Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) — the 1979 cohort and the 1997 cohort. The analysis focuses on how various demographic and economic factors impact household formation both within...

Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this paper considers the mechanism by which changing house values impact U.S. household spending. The results suggest that house values affect consumption by serving as collateral for households to borrow against to smooth their spending. The...

Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this paper examines how households' home equity extraction during the previous decade affected their spending and saving behavior.The study makes use of recently released 2009 housing and wealth data as well as the extensive data on household...

This paper evaluates the marginal propensity to consume out of the 2020 CARES Act stimulus payments using high-frequency, transaction-level data for a sample of low-income debit cardholders. It finds that spending responds less on impact to the stimulus payments than to non-stimulus income (15...

This policy brief analyzes the effects of COVID-19 mitigation policies, those that restrict movement and activity and those that advocate public health best practices. The analysis uses US state-level data to estimate the effects of mobility, mask mandates, and compliance with these mandates on...

This paper evaluates the marginal propensity to consume (MPC) out of the 2020 fiscal stimulus payments using high-frequency, transaction-level data for a sample of low-income cardholders, many of whom are unbanked. Consumers’ MPC out of non-stimulus income and their MPC out of tax refunds are...

This paper develops a comprehensive measure of household economic well-being. The "sustainable consumption" concept accounts for income, assets, debt, transfer payments, and asset returns to estimate a consumption path that balances resources with expenditure over a household's lifetime....

This paper develops a comprehensive measure of household economic well-being. The “sustainable consumption” concept accounts for income, assets, debt, transfer payments, and asset returns to estimate a consumption path that balances resources with expenditure over a household’s lifetime....