Decline in U.S. Personal Saving Rate: Is it Real and Is It a Puzzle? (ICPSR 21300)

Version Date: Nov 8, 2007

Cite this study |

Principal Investigator(s):
Massimo Guidolin, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR21300.v1

Version V1

Slide tabs to view more

Summary

Since the mid-1990s, the national income and product accounts personal saving rate for the United States has been trending down, dropping into negative territory for three months during the past two years. This paper examines measurement problems surrounding two of the standard definitions of the personal saving rate. The authors conclude that, despite these measurement problems, the recent decline of the United States personal saving rate to low levels seems to be a real economic phenomenon and may be a cause for concern for several reasons. After examining several possible explanations for the trend advanced in the recent literature, the authors conclude that none of them provides a compelling explanation for the steep decline and negative levels of the United States personal saving rate.

Citation

Guidolin, Massimo, and Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Decline in U.S. Personal Saving Rate: Is it Real and Is It a Puzzle? Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2007-11-08. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR21300.v1

Export Citation:

  • RIS (generic format for RefWorks, EndNote, etc.)
  • EndNote

Funding

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Research Division

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
Hide

Data Collection Notes

  1. (1) A zipped package contains an Excel file which comprises the data and corresponding figures. (2) These data are part of ICPSR's Publication-Related Archive and are distributed exactly as they arrived from the data depositor. ICPSR has not checked or processed this material. Users should consult the investigators if further information is desired.

Hide

Original Release Date

2007-11-08

Version History

2018-02-15 The citation of this study may have changed due to the new version control system that has been implemented. The previous citation was:
  • Guidolin, Massimo, and Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Decline in U.S. Personal Saving Rate: Is it Real and Is It a Puzzle?. ICPSR21300-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2007-11-08. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR21300.v1
Hide

Notes

  • These data are flagged as replication datasets and are distributed exactly as they arrived from the data depositor. ICPSR has not checked or processed this material. Users should consult the investigator(s) if further information is desired.

  • The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.