The Paradox of Thrift: A Case Study of United States of America

Vermann (2012) and Thies (1996)’s papers indicate that the paradox of thrift is no longer in vogue in United States of America (USA). This paper argues that the paradox of thrift is still applicable to USA even though she is operating with sufficient demand. The main objective of this paper is to determine whether the paradox of thrift is applicable to USA after the Great Depression. In doing this, a vector error correction model was estimated using annual data of gross national income, gross domestic saving, gross domestic investment and final consumption expenditure from 1971 to 2020. The results of the investigation showed that final consumption expenditure and gross domestic saving increase when gross national income increases. Gross national income falls and current saving is unchanged when previous saving rises. The paradox of thrift is applicable to USA after the Great Depression. The target of economic policy should be gross national income and not gross domestic saving because naturally both final consumption expenditure and gross domestic saving will increase if gross national income increases in USA.