To: Mark Adams who wrote (107140 ) 6/7/2001 9:28:51 AM From: Ilaine Read Replies (1) | Respond to The paper at the second link, while not as professional or polished as the paper at the first link, I thought was better. It made a clearer analysis about the effects of ignoring the limitations of NIPA accounting, which don't take into account the real world consequences of some economic choices, i.e., it doesn't take into account capital gains when stocks are sold, it assumes that once they are sold the money received is consumed. That means that the capital gains of trillions of dollars worth of stocks held in pension plans and IRA accounts are completely off the NIPA books. I'd seen that mentioned before, but what really brings it home is the data from the first paper that people in the bottom 80% of income brackets are saving more than ever before, as savings is traditionally defined, and it's only the accounting for capital gains for people in the top 20% that makes it appear that Americans are not saving.
