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Saving and Investment Are In Long-Term Decline

1 min readBy: Andrew Lundeen, Alan Cole

Economic growth has hovered around 2 percent in recent years. One reason for the slow growth is that saving and investment have been declining in the U.S. for nearly a half century. Both are crucial to the economy.

Investment is important, because it provides American workers with the means to be more productive. Saving is important, because it provides the money needed for investment, which explains the close correlation between the two trends.

Tax policy is one of the many factors contributing to the long-term decline in saving and investment.

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About the Authors

Andrew Lundeen

Director of Federal Projects
Alan Cole Tax Foundation
Expert

Alan Cole

Senior Economist

Alan Cole is a Senior Economist with Tax Foundation’s Center for Federal Tax Policy. His areas of focus include business taxes, cross-border taxes, and macroeconomics. In addition to work at Tax Foundation, Alan has served on the Joint Economic Committee and with The Conference Board.