Tax Policy and National Savings in the United States
Tax Policy and National Savings in the United States

Author: International Monetary Fund

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 1988-12-22

Total Pages: 28

ISBN-13: 1451945531

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This paper explores how tax policy affects the level and allocation of national savings in the United States. It argues that the effect of taxes on the overall private saving level is relatively small and uncertain and that raising public saving is the most direct and efficient way to raise national saving. However, the tax system has a powerful impact on the composition of savings and investment. The paper suggests various specific tax measures that would not only raise government revenue but also enhance the efficiency of savings and investment.

National Saving and Economic Performance
National Saving and Economic Performance

Author: John B. Shoven

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2009-02-15

Total Pages: 396

ISBN-13: 0226044351

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The past decade has witnessed a decline in saving throughout the developed world—the United States has the dubious distinction of leading the way. The consequences can be serious. For individuals, their own economic security and that of their families is jeopardized. For society, inadequate rates of saving have been blamed for a variety of ills—decreasing the competitive abilities of American industry, slowing capital accumulation, increasing our trade deficit, and forcing the sale of capital stock to foreign investors at bargain prices. Restoring acceptable rates of saving in the United States poses a major challenge to those who formulate national economic policy, especially since economists and policymakers alike still understand little about what motivates people to save. In National Saving and Economic Performance, edited by B. Douglas Bernheim and John B. Shoven, that task is addressed by offering the results of new research, with recommendations for policies aimed to improve saving. Leading experts in diverse fields of economics debate the need for more accurate measurement of official saving data; examine how corporate decisions to retain or distribute earnings affect household-level consumption and saving; and investigate the effects of taxation on saving behavior, correlations between national saving and international investment over time, and the influence of economic growth on saving. Presenting the most comprehensive and up-to-date research on saving, this volume will benefit both academic and government economists.