Staff summarized research projects being conducted across the Federal Reserve System on the effects of changes in lending practices and household leverage on consumer spending in recent years. These projects provided a range of views regarding the size and importance of such effects. An analysis employing aggregate time-series data indicated that changes in income, household assets and liabilities, and credit availability can largely account for the movements in aggregate consumption seen since the mid-1990s; this finding suggests that changes in credit conditions may have been an important factor driving changes in ... (full story)