Julis-rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance Consumption and Finance

Recent financial woes in America have prompted a closer look at the relationship between the health of an economy and the decisions of its households. The Great Recession, in particular, was driven partly by mounting household debt and plummeting household spending. Now, while the rebounding savings rate has reversed a longstanding trend, it has weakened the economic recovery. In “Consumption and Finance,” the third annual conference of the Julis Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance (JRC), this relationship between financial systems and consumer demand is explored in detail. In search of new insights and necessary policy reforms, researchers delve into our saving and spending habits from economic and behavioral perspectives, under various conditions—both good and bad, and across regions, classes, and generations. The driving factors of debt and credit, interest rates and borrowing capacity, monetary policy and human biases, are given fresh analytical consideration and are summarized here.