The Anatomy of the Global Saving Glut

Pré-publication, Document de travail: This paper provides a household-level perspective on the rise of global saving and wealth since the 1980s. We calculate asset-specific saving flows and capital gains across the wealth distribution for the G3 economies-the U.S., Europe, and China. In the past four decades, global saving inequality has risen sharply. The share of household saving flows coming from the richest 10% of household increased by 60% while saving of middle class households has fallen sharply. The most important source for the surge in top-10% saving was the secular rise of global corporate saving whose ultimate owners the rich households are. Housing capital gains have supported wealth growth for middle-class households despite falling saving and rising debt. Without meaningful capital gains in risky assets, the wealth share of the bottom half of the population declined substantially in most G3 economies.

Auteur(s)

Luis Bauluz, Filip Novokmet, Moritz Schularick

Date de publication
  • 2022
Mots-clés JEL
D31 E21 E44 N32
Mots-clés
  • N32 Income and wealth inequality
  • Household portfolios
  • Historical micro data
Référence interne
  • World Inequality Lab Working Papers n°2022-06
Version
  • 1