Should America Save for its Old Age? Fiscal Policy, Population Aging, and National Saving

Bibliographic Data

ID4029241
AuthorsDouglas W Elmendorf (U.S. Department of the Treasury, Washington, D.C.), Louise M Sheiner (Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Washington, D.C.), Louise Sheiner (Federal Reserve Board of Governors)
Year2000
Volume14
Issue3
Pages57-74
Publication date2000-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Economic Perspectives (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0895-3309 • E-ISSN: 1944-7965
PublisherAmerican Economic Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1257/jep.14.3.57
OpenAlexW1978392755
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited10

We examine whether the aging of the U.S. population adds force to traditional arguments for boosting national saving and conclude--perhaps surprisingly--that it may not. Aging boosts the demands on future resources, but it also changes the rate of return the U.S. economy can expect from saving. We find that the net effect on desired saving is small: some specifications imply that present consumption should fall by a fraction of 1 percent; others imply that consumption should actually increase. Thus, it is optimal to allow future cohorts to bear much/all of the burden of population aging

Demographic economics · Development economics · Economics · Monetary economics · Population · Population ageing · Demography · Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis · Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth · Global Health Care Issues

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