Academic Press Handbook of US Consumer Economics

Handbook of U.S. Consumer Economics presents a deep understanding on key, current topics and a primer on the landscape of contemporary research on the U.S. consumer. This volume reveals new insights into household decision-making on consumption and saving, borrowing and investing, portfolio allocation, demand of professional advice, and retirement choices. Nearly 70% of U.S. gross domestic product is devoted to consumption, making an understanding of the consumer a first order issue in macroeconomics. After all, understanding how households played an important role in the boom and bust cycle that led to the financial crisis and recent great recession is a key metric. Introduces household finance by examining consumption and borrowing choices Tackles macro-problems by observing new, original micro-data Looks into the future of consumer spending by using data, not questionnaires Review Presents a holistic perspective of consumer income growth, the state of household balance sheets, and evolving demographic trends From the Back Cover The Handbook of US Consumer Economics provides a resource for those seeking deep treatments of key current topics and a primer on the landscape of contemporary research on the US consumer. Nearly 70% of US gross domestic product is devoted to consumption, making an understanding of the consumer a first order issue in macroeconomics. Households also play an important role in the financial system and were a driver, at least in part, of the boom and bust cycle that led to the financial crisis and Great Recession in the second half of the 2000s. In recent years the analysis of consumer borrowing and spending has become increasingly complex and powerful owing to parallel developments in data availability and empirical methods. By using new, original micro-data, this volume reveals new insights into households’ decisions about consumption and saving, borrowing and investing, portfolio allocation, demand of professional advice, and retirement choices. About the Author Andrew Haughwout is Senior Vice President and Head of the Microeconomic Studies Department in the Research and Statistics Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. His research in urban economics, public finance, infrastructure, household finance, applied microeconomics, consumer finance, and housing markets has been published in the Journal of Money Credit and Banking, The American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review, and Econometrica, among other publications. He is a co-editor of the Liberty Street Economics blog and a coeditor of the Bank's Economic Policy Review. In addition to his duties at the Bank, he is a Penn Institute for Urban Research Scholar and serves on the Advisory Board of the Journal of Regional Science. He is a past Chair of the North American Regional Science Council and the Federal Reserve System Committee on Regional Analysis. Prior to joining the New York Fed, Mr. Haughwout served as Assistant Professor and Director of the Urban and Regional Planning program at Princeton University. He holds a BA from Swarthmore College and a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. Benjamin Mandel is Executive Director in Multi-Asset Solutions at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. He is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. Ben began his career as an economist in the International Finance division at the Federal Reserve Board and later moved to the International Research group at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan, he was a member of the Global Economics team at Citi Research. Ben’s academic research has been published in leading scholarly journals, including: American Economic Review, American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, Quantitative Finance and the Journal of Economic Perspectives. He has held adjunct faculty positions at NYU Stern S