Concern about the low U.S. saving rate and its negative impact on capital formation and economic growth prompted the American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF) Center for Policy Research to launch a multifaceted, three-year project to explore this issue in 1988. This volume is one element of that project. This book contains slightly updated versions of the papers presented at a two-and-one-half-day conference entitled Saving: The Challenge for the U.S. Economy, held in Washington, D.C., in October 1989.

Mark A. Bloomfield, Esq., is president of the American Council for Capital Formation and its economic education and research affiliate, the ACCF Center for Policy Research. Dr. Margo Thorning is chief economist of the American Council for Capital Formation and director of research of the organization's affiliated ACCF Center for Policy Research. Dr. Charis E. Walker is chairman of the American Council for Capital Formation and its affiliate, the ACCF Center for Policy Research. Dr. Walker also is chairman of Charis E. Walker Associates, Inc., a Washington, D.C.- based consulting firm.

PART ONE THE U.S. SAVINO CHALLENGE: POLICYMAKER PERSPECTIVES, PART TWO U.S. SAVINO AND INVESTMENT RATE: CAUSE FOR CONCERN? PART THREE STRATEGIES FOR INCREASING U.S. SAVING