CERF Blog

I have suggested that people would be better off if they massively increased their savings rates.  The aggregate Personal Savings Rate (PSR) is defined as the difference between disposable (after-tax) income and consumption spending.  It is reported each month by the Department of Commerce and has recently been running around 4%, compared to a 50-year… Read more

Joe Mihalic is a recent graduate from the Harvard Business School (HBS) who managed to pay off $91,000 in student debt in seven months.  He is currently enjoying his fifteen minutes of fame because he documented the details of his journey in a blog.  His story is one of determination and commitment to a goal. … Read more

The first release of GDP data came out this morning with an advance estimate of 2.2 percent growth for quarter 1. Contributions of growth from the major components were: Consumption Expenditures                       2.04 Investment Expenditures                           0.77           Fixed Investment                             0.18           Inventory                                          0.59 Government Expenditures               … Read more

The US savings rate is really low and has been for some time.  For many years this was explained by the argument that people were getting wealthy through appreciation of their homes and stock portfolios, so the need for saving out of current income was low.  And sure enough, household net worth did expand nicely… Read more

The BEA released their first estimate of United States 2010 quarter 4 GDP this morning. The economy grew at 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter which is an acceleration from the previous quarter’s 2.6 percent. The acceleration in growth was primarily driven by consumption growth, fixed investment, and declines in imports. Imports are a subtraction… Read more