Sustainable consumption and the economic well‐being of American households

Daniel H. Cooper, Barry Cynamon and Steven Fazzari

Economic Inquiry, 2026, vol. 64, issue 3, 955-975

Abstract: “Sustainable consumption” defines a comprehensive measure of household economic well‐being that integrates income, assets, debt, transfers, and rates of return to estimate a feasible lifetime consumption path. We find that sustainable consumption anchors actual spending, with deviations in one period adjusting back toward the sustainable level in subsequent periods. After the Great Recession, sustainable consumption fell more than actual consumption, in part due to lower real asset returns. Decomposing sustainable consumption into its components reveals primary support from taxable income, but its share has declined while Social Security's has grown. Substantial differences are also evident across race‐ethnicity and educational levels.

Date: 2026
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