The current net_worth calibration target is sourced from the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). SCF is valuable for micro distribution work, but for the national aggregate a better benchmark is the Federal Reserve's Financial Accounts (Z.1).
Why the current target is weak:
- SCF is a survey benchmark, not the Fed's main aggregate balance-sheet account.
- For a national macro total, the official Z.1 Financial Accounts series is more authoritative and updated more regularly.
- Distributional Financial Accounts (DFA) can still be used as a distributional cross-check if needed.
Proposed change:
- Replace the SCF-based aggregate
net_worth target with the Federal Reserve Z.1 Financial Accounts household-and-nonprofit net worth aggregate, documenting the sector scope.
- Use SCF/DFA only for diagnostics or future distributional calibration, not the main national hard target.
Primary sources:
The current
net_worthcalibration target is sourced from the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). SCF is valuable for micro distribution work, but for the national aggregate a better benchmark is the Federal Reserve's Financial Accounts (Z.1).Why the current target is weak:
Proposed change:
net_worthtarget with the Federal Reserve Z.1 Financial Accounts household-and-nonprofit net worth aggregate, documenting the sector scope.Primary sources: