Savings & Ownership Caucus

Two days ago, the NY Times published an op-ed describing how the economic recession has called attention to the U.S.’s general neglect of infrastructure development. The op-ed contends that in recent years, the U.S. has made relatively few investments in infrastructure ranging from transportation to energy and that this has implications for the country’s long-term sustainability and growth. Support is made for S.652 Building and Upgrading Infrastructure for Long-Term Development which would create the American Infrastructure Financing Authority (AIFA), recently proposed into Congress with bipartisan support and intended to spur infrastructure development vital to the country’s future. AIFA would invest private capital into grants and loans for long-term and financially sustainable projects related to infrastructure development. I think the interesting parts of the op-ed, though, are the ideas that infrastructure is a worthy investment for long-term sustainability and growth and that widespread investment in infrastructure could be reminiscent of Roosevelt’s New Deal. And especially how these ideas might relate to children's savings.

Low personal savings rates are just one of the ways in which the recent and pervasive Great Recession has highlighted the financial fragility of families, especially among lower-income Americans. Hopefully you were fortunate to join us on Wednesday for a convening of leading experts to discuss the road from financial fragility to financial stability. Entitled Rebuilding the Road to Financial Stability, the convening highlighted potholes along this road by citing evidence for just how financially fragile lower-income Americans are, introducing strategies to repair existing potholes, and suggesting ways in which we can build upon repairs to maintain the road.

At our event today on "Rebuilding the Road to Financial Stability" (co-sponsored by the Congressional Savings and Ownership Caucus and the Center for Financial Security at the University of Wisconsin-Madison) Federal Reserve Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin delivered a speech about her vision of economic inclusion.

We'll have the video of this up before too long, but I wanted to note that Governor's speech was as explicit a defense of an active, effective regulatory body for financial products as I have heard in some time. She echoed arguments that we have made previously about the symbiotic relationship between healthy consumers and healthy markets. It is a speech worth listening to.

iMarket News concurs with my take, but Bloomberg News thinks the headline is "Income Inequality Hurting Growth."In this case I think we can all be right, here's the whole speech:

The news is out – many Americans are living on the financial edge.  Last week, Justin blogged about how Bankrate’s June Financial Security Index poll found that one in four Americans has no emergency savings.  Last month, the Today show featured new research showing that nearly half of Americans are financially fragile, meaning that they probably or certainly would not be able to cope with an emer

That's the headline from Bankrate's June Financial Security Index poll. It's definitely worth reading their release in its entirety. Though I would point out a few things, first, the article oversells the rhetoric about a "double-dip recession" IMHO. Second, while the headline is attention grabbing it undersells the findings of the study.

On Wednesday, we're sponsoring a briefing that's designed as a service to Congressional offices, "Helping Constituents Save at Tax Time: A Congressional Briefing on How Legislators can Educate Constituents on Buying Savings Bonds with Tax Refunds." The event is from 10am-11am in 122 Cannon HOB.

Without much fanfare, savings disappeared from the national economy, replaced by rising levels of debt used to finance ever-expanding consumption.

It's an unsustainable path, and one that contributed to the Great Recession we are still struggling to overcome. And while turning us into a nation of savers isn't going to happen overnight, we have to start somewhere.

And a good place to start is where savings habits are formed -- with our children.

Last Thursday, New America's College Savings Initiative held an event in tandem with the Congressional Savings and Ownership Caucus to discuss ways for federal policymakers to encourage saving for postsecondary eduation.

Tomorrow, in tandem with the bipartisan Congressional Savings and Ownership Caucus, New America's College Savings Initiative will be holding an event on Capitol Hill to discu