IMF Working Papers

Public Wealth in the United States

By Fabien Gonguet, Klaus-Peter Hellwig

July 2, 2019

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Fabien Gonguet, and Klaus-Peter Hellwig. Public Wealth in the United States, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2019) accessed November 21, 2024

Disclaimer: IMF Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to encourage debate. The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.

Summary

We analyze the US public sector balance sheet and project it forward under the assumption that current policies remain in place. We first document the history of the balance sheet and its components since World War II, with a detailed account of its evolution during and after the global financial crisis. While, based on assets and liabilities alone, public sector net worth is negative, additional challenges arise from commitments to future spending implied by current legislation and demographic trends. To quantify the risks to the balance sheet, we then apply the macroeconomic scenarios from the Federal Reserve’s bank stress test to the public sector balance sheet.

Subject: Economic sectors, Expenditure, Financial institutions, Financial statements, Global financial crisis of 2008-2009, Pension spending, Public debt, Public financial management (PFM), Public sector, Securities

Keywords: Asset, Asset revaluation, Balance sheet, Federal Reserve assets, Financial statements, Fiscal sustainability, Fixed asset, Global, Government finance statistics, Liability mismatch, Pension spending, Public sector, Revaluation effect, Securities, Student loan, WP, Yield

Publication Details

  • Pages:

    49

  • Volume:

    ---

  • DOI:

    ---

  • Issue:

    ---

  • Series:

    Working Paper No. 2019/139

  • Stock No:

    WPIEA2019139

  • ISBN:

    9781498312219

  • ISSN:

    1018-5941

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