Savings: the policy debate in Europe
梳理了欧洲关于储蓄的三大政策辩论：私人储蓄能否替代公共养老金、新金融格局是否需要税收和监管调整、老龄化欧洲储蓄过多还是过少，并指出理论和实证知识的不足，提醒谨慎提出政策建议。
Three issues dominate the public policy debate over savings in Continental Europe. First, can private savings substitute for public pensions in the provision of retirement income, given that the current generosity of pay-as-you-go financed pensions is hardly sustainable in the light of population ageing? And if so, which policy steps have to be taken to alleviate this transition? Second, does the evolution of a 'new financial landscape' in Europe necessitate policy response in terms of taxation and regulation, specifically considering the increase in pension funds? And third, closely related to the other two issues, is there too much or too little saving in an ageing Europe? Will pension reform and the new financial landscape increase or decrease overall saving? Do we need to subsidize saving more or less than we currently do? The paper reviews economic theory and empirical evidence on these intertwined issues. Most importantly, it identifies many gaps in our theoretical and empirical knowledge that caution us against overly strong policy recommendations.