Wealth, U.S. Consumer

James F. Smith

Consumer wealth is simply the value of assets less the debt that consumers owe. Major wealth categories are real estate, consumer durable goods, and financial assets such as checking and savings accounts, bonds, stocks, and the equity in noncorporate businesses. Every 3 months the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System publishes the “Z.l” release, the Flow of Funds. These tables contain balance sheet and income data for all major parts of the U.S. economy. Figure 1 shows how the total assets of the “Household and Nonprofit Organizations” have grown over the past 54 years. In their December 7, 2006, release, the Board reported that these assets had reached a record $67.1 trillion on September 30, Figure ...

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