Financial innovation in the U.S. economy has proceeded at a dynamic rate throughout this century. The number and variety of financial institutions which have evolved and thrived testify to our inventiveness. Whether the expanding .. role of these specialized intermediaries have contributed to the nation's economic growth is a long-standing and much debated question, even today. As financial institutions .go, pension plans are not young, nor are they peculiar to the United States; factors impelling their growth and development were common to most industrial countries. Only relatively recently, however, have the effects on private saving of the growth of pension systems, with their particular attributes, been recognized as singularly important in comparison with other financial institutions conceived in the past. / Master of Arts