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"Notwithstanding the modified ECB practice that saved the day, the euro area is failing to restore economic prosperity. The problem is visibly political, yet an effective solution must be economically viable. This essay articulates the reason behind the prolonged deflationary bias of euro area policies by means of a simple (‘T-shirt') model, where private spending depends on desired savings and sustainable indebtedness. This savings–debt constraint means that any policy that inhibits debt also inhibits financial savings, spending, and jobs. After providing a solution to the conundrum of the consequence of savings in a monetary economy, this essay makes a case for reclaiming the fiscal instrument. The EU Commission's belief that it is possible to create jobs without creating new debt underscores a serious conceptual fault and a delusion that the savings–debt constraint to spending can be ignored. As long as policy-makers defy the savings–debt constraint, the euro area will continue to live dangerously."

"Countries around the world face a retirement crisis brought on by aging populations, declining birthrates, and fiscal shortfalls. As a result, policy makers increasingly seek to understand retirement savings patterns, a crucial component of the safety net for the elderly. Drawing on the 2014 Global Findex database, which provides individual-level data on the use of financial products in more than 140 countries, this paper examines how adults save for old age. It finds that about 25 percent of adults worldwide save for old age, with rates exceeding 35 percent in high-income Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development economies and the East Asia and Pacific region. On average, men are slightly more likely than women to save for this purpose, but the gender gap is deeper in developing countries. Worldwide, saving for old age is more common among older adults, more educated adults, and adults who own accounts. Adults in countries with English legal origin, and with high savings rates, are also more likely to save for old age. The paper also finds that measures to increase trust in the financial system, such as the safety net/moral hazard index based on deposit insurance, lead to higher rates of saving for old age. Finally, the paper finds little evidence of substitution between pension system provisions and contribution rates with saving for old age."

"Social security contributions make up around a fourth of total tax revenue in OECD countries. However, there are concerns on the economic effects of high levies on labour. Recent studies suggest that at least a third of taxes on labour are shifted onto employers, leading to higher wage costs. We find substantial evidence in the literature that the nature of social security contributions matters. With a clear connection between contributions and rights, the employee will perceive this contribution as a price and not as a tax. As a consequence, these contributions will be less distortive in terms of labour supply, wage costs and private savings."

"Estimates of Britain's comprehensive wealth are reported for the period 1760–2000. They include measures of produced, natural, and human capital, and illustrate the changing composition of Britain's assets over this time period. We show how genuine savings, GS (a year-on-year measure of the change in total capital and a claimed indicator of sustainable development) has evolved over time. Changes in total wealth are compared to alternative, investment-based measures of GS, including variants augmented with the value of exogenous technology. Additionally, the possible effects of population change on wealth, and the implications of including carbon-dioxide emissions in natural capital are considered."

"THE BUBBLE AND BEYOND describes how the fabulous expansive forces of industrial capitalism have been subverted by a predatory finance capitalism. What the FED hailed as “The Great Moderation” has left the middle class to take on a lifetime of bank debt to obtain access to housing, education to get a job, an auto to drive to it, and simply to maintain living standards that wages and salaries no longer support. What has derailed the economy is the take-over of academic economics and politics by the financial sector in order to censor criticism and misrepresent statistics so as to give the impression that the economy can “borrow its way out of debt.” The reality is that income used to pay down today's debt overhead is not available to be spent on goods and services. The result is debt deflation, followed by austerity and the the "fire sale" or decay of infrastructure at the national and local levels. The most controversial claim by Prof. Hudson is that “Debts that can't be paid, won't be.” The question he poses is whether their non-payment will lead to worldwide foreclosures – including sell-offs of the public domain by debt-strapped local and national governments – or whether they will be written down in line with the ability to pay. This is the economic issue that will dominate politics over the next generation. Illustrated with charts and exhibits that make it plain where money goes versus where it should go."

"Die Konzeption einer wohlfahrtsmarktlich organisierten Altersvorsorge im Zuge der Riester-Reformen basiert(e) auf der expliziten Annahme, Akteure treffen Vorsorgeentscheidungen im Sinne langfristig rational planender Akteure. In Anlehnung an die Lebenszyklushypothese zeigt der Beitrag zunächst deren theoretische Implikation auf, dass rational handelnde Individuen Sparentscheidungen derart treffen müssten, dass ihr langfristiges Konsumniveau konstant bleibt. Anschließend werden mit SAVE 2008-Daten empirische Analysen zu realen Vorsorgeentscheidungen durchgeführt. Es zeigt sich sowohl bei der Entscheidung, vorzusorgen oder nicht, als auch bei den Entscheidungen über die Höhe der Vorsorgebeträge, dass die getroffenen Entscheidungen in vielen Aspekten einem von rationalen Akteuren erwartbaren Verhalten widersprechen. Empirisch zeigt sich stattdessen ein Muster von Vorsorgeentscheidungen, nach dem vor allem dann gespart wird, wenn bereits überdurchschnittliche Einkommenserwartungen in der Zukunft bestehen. Damit werden Überlegungen zu einem empirisch gehaltvolleren Erklärungsmodell notwendig."