This paper examines households' financial fragility by looking at their capacity to come up with $2,000 in 30 days. Using data from the 2009 TNS Global Economic Crisis survey, we document widespread financial weakness in the United States: Approximately one quarter of Americans report that they...

This paper examines households' financial fragility by looking at their capacity to come up with $2,000 in 30 days. Using data from the 2009 TNS Global Economic Crisis survey, we document widespread financial weakness in the United States: Approximately one quarter of Americans report that they...

This paper examines households' financial fragility by looking at their capacity to come up with $2,000 in 30 days. Using data from the 2009 TNS Global Economic Crisis survey, we document widespread financial weakness in the United States: Almost half of Americans report that they are incapable...

"The NBER Bulletin on Aging and Health provides summaries of publications like this. You can sign up to receive the NBER Bulletin on Aging and Health by email. This paper examines households' financial fragility by looking at their capacity to come up with $2,000 in 30 days. Using data from the...

I examine financial literacy — specifically knowledge of risk — using data from surveys in the United States and other countries. I show that risk literacy is very low; the majority of individuals lack knowledge of concepts such as risk diversification and do not understand the relationship...