causal

Negative saving reconciles consumption and income

Consumption and income can diverge when saving rates change, and in the decade before the Great Recession the bottom 90% of the wealth distribution had a negative saving rate—consuming more than their income via skyrocketing household debt—which helps reconcile observed consumption increases with stagnant incomes.

causalpending

Speaker

Gabriel Zucman

Evidence Quote

household debt has skyrocketed before the Financial Crisis; the saving rates of the middle class and the working class has collapsed.

Source

Gabriel Zucman on Inequality, Growth, and Distributional National AccountsEconTalk
Created: 6/13/2026, 12:26:44 AM

My Notes

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