Article
Licensed
Unlicensed
Requires Authentication
Household Debt in the Consumer Age: Source of Growth--Risk of Collapse
-
Published/Copyright:
October 24, 2008
The 2008 U.S. financial upheaval raises important questions about the sources of household consumption and debt growth, along with their macroeconomic effects. We argue that spending and financial preferences evolve as social norms interact with both cultural trends and institutional changes in household finance. We identify historical forces that raised consumption and debt over the past quarter century and interpret these events with Hyman Minsky's financial cycle framework. Strong consumption helped moderate recessions and boost growth since the mid 1980s. But unprecedented household debt has now culminated in a financial crisis that threatens to cause a deep recession.
Published Online: 2008-10-24
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
You are currently not able to access this content.
You are currently not able to access this content.
Articles in the same Issue
- Article
- Economic Forecasting in a Changing World
- Household Debt in the Consumer Age: Source of Growth--Risk of Collapse
- The Historical Origins of 'Open Science': An Essay on Patronage, Reputation and Common Agency Contracting in the Scientific Revolution
- Discussion and Commentary
- Comment on "Economic Forecasting in a Changing World" (by Michael Clements and David Hendry)
- Comment on "Household Debt in the Consumer Age: Source of Growth--Risk of Collapse" (by Barry Z. Cynamon and Steven M. Fazzari)
- Comment on "The Historical Origins of 'Open Science'" (by Paul David)
- Reader Response
- Comment on 'Technological Revolutions and the Evolution of Industrial Structures' (by Giovanni Dosi, Alfonso Gambardella, Marco Grazzi, and Luigi Orsenigo)
Articles in the same Issue
- Article
- Economic Forecasting in a Changing World
- Household Debt in the Consumer Age: Source of Growth--Risk of Collapse
- The Historical Origins of 'Open Science': An Essay on Patronage, Reputation and Common Agency Contracting in the Scientific Revolution
- Discussion and Commentary
- Comment on "Economic Forecasting in a Changing World" (by Michael Clements and David Hendry)
- Comment on "Household Debt in the Consumer Age: Source of Growth--Risk of Collapse" (by Barry Z. Cynamon and Steven M. Fazzari)
- Comment on "The Historical Origins of 'Open Science'" (by Paul David)
- Reader Response
- Comment on 'Technological Revolutions and the Evolution of Industrial Structures' (by Giovanni Dosi, Alfonso Gambardella, Marco Grazzi, and Luigi Orsenigo)
