Bill Dickens wrote:
>
> Bryan:
> Which "official definition of savings" are you referring? NBER or
> Palgrave's Dictionary of Economics? Both emphasize looking at savings as
> abstinence of consumption. Do you reject the Wicksell-Fisher tradition that
> savings is a reflection about how individuals discount the future?
I am thinking about officially-reported "savings rates," which in recent
years have sparked puzzlement by actually turning negative. I'm not
sure whose imprimatur is on these numbers. But the savings experts I've
had the chance to ask have told me that official numbers don't count
stock purchases, capital gains, etc.
But maybe I'm just confused. If anyone knows better...
--
Prof. Bryan Caplan
Department of Economics George Mason University
http://www.bcaplan.com [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"He wrote a letter, but did not post it because he felt that no one
would have understood what he wanted to say, and besides it was not
necessary that anyone but himself should understand it."
Leo Tolstoy, *The Cossacks*
