This paper investigates whether the consumption of rich households provides a reference point in the consumption choices of non-rich households from an intertemporal perspective. Using UK household data on food consumption, we estimate the Euler equation implied by a life-cycle model...

Approximately 15 percent of households have a negative or zero net worth, leaving them vulnerable to financial insecurity at retirement. Some are vulnerable at retirement, in part, due to their lack of saving. However, some are also at risk because of their rates of consumption, relative to...

Using nationally representative data on consumption, we show that Blacks and Hispanics devote larger shares of their expenditure bundles to visible goods (clothing, jewelry, and cars) than do comparable Whites. We demonstrate that these differences exist among virtually all sub-populations, that...