Presenting A Comprehensive Introduction To The Study Of Consumption And Saving Using Theoretical Models Based On The Standard Microeconomic Foundations, This Text Also Reviews The Substantial Empirical Literature On The Subject. Preface; Contents; 1: Theoretical Foundations; 1.1 A Simple Model Of Intertemporal Choice And The Life Cycle; Many Periods And The Life Cycle; Lifetime Consumption Profiles; 1.2 On Intertemporal Preferences; Consumption As An Aggregate Of Commodities; Intertemporal Preferences And Components Of Consumption; Intertemporally Consistent Choices; Time And The Structure Of Preferences; Uncertainty, Additivity And Expected Utility; 1.3 Intertemporal Choice; Risky Assets And Intertemporal Optimality; The Evolution Of Consumption; Consumption Evolution With Temporal Dependence Consumption, Insurance, And Complete Markets1.4 On The Aggregation Of Individual Behavior; 2: Consumption, Growth, And Interest; 2.1 Saving And Growth; The Stripped-down Life-cycle Model; Complications To The Basic Model; The Empirical Evidence; Contradictory Evidence?; Growth And The Age Profile Of Consumption; Does Consumption Track Income Too Closely?; 2.2 Saving And Interest Rates; Traditional Analyses Of Saving And Interest; Interest Rates And Intertemporal Substitution; Representative Agents And Intertemporal Substitution; Intertemporal Substitution And Aggregation Over Consumers 3: Consumption And Permanent Incomeeconometric Consumption Functions; The Treatment Of Expectations; 3.1 A Formal Version Of The Permanent Income Hypothesis; Consumption And Permanent Income; The Pih And The Martingale Property Of Consumption; Forming Expectations About Income; 3.2 The Excess Sensitivity Of Consumption; Flavin's Tests For Excess Sensitivity; Excess Sensitivity And Non-stationary Income; Excess Sensitivity And The Timing Of Consumption; Excess Sensitivity, Durability, And Habits; 3.3 Consumption And Permanent Income: A First Summary; 4: The Volatility Of Consumption 4.1 Measured Income And Permanent Incomeforecasting Non-stationary Income; A Historical Digression; Difference-stationary And Trend-stationary Income; 4.2 Is Consumption Too Smooth?; A Non-parametric Estimate Of Income Persistence; Estimating The Persistence Of Labor Income; Measuring The Persistence Of Consumption; Excess Smoothness: A Summary; 4.3 Superior Information, Smoothness, And Sensitivity; Saving, Consumption, And Income; Superior Information; A Bivariate Model Of Saving And Income; Other Insights From The Bivariate Approach; 4.4 The Volatility Of Consumption: A Summary 5: Macroeconomics And Microeconomics5.1 The Permanent Income Hypothesis And The Micro Data; General Problems Of Data And Methodology; Hall And Mishkin's Study; Reinterpretations: Measurement Error; Reinterpretations: Time-series Versus Cross-sections; 5.2 More Microeconomic Studies Of Intertemporal Choice; Further Evidence From The Psid; Evidence From The Consumer Expenditure Survey; Other Tests: The Us, Italy, Japan, Norway, And Ivory Coast; A Tentative Summary; 5.3 Consumption Interactions Between Households; 5.4 The Reconciliation Of Micro And Macro Evidence; Aggregation With Finite Lives Individual Households And Aggregate Information Angus Deaton. Description Based Upon Print Version Of Record. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. English