Report
5 Reasons Why a Debt Commission Is the Wrong Prescription
A fiscal commission is likely to focus narrowly on reducing deficits, ignoring other important policy challenges.
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Policy Basics
Long-term deficits and debt will affect the nation’s ability to fund important investments in the future.
We analyze long-term deficit and debt trends to illustrate the challenges we face and highlight potential solutions. We also encourage policymakers to enact measures to strengthen today’s job market as well as measures to reduce longer-term deficits.
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Long-Term Budget Outlook Has Improved Substantially Since 2010 But Remains Challenging
The nation’s projected long-term finances have notably improved, largely due to significant reductions in prospective health care cost growth and interest...
In a Recession, Put Deficit Concerns Aside
The economy is in the 124th month of the longest expansion on record, and while expansions don’t die from old age alone, fears are rising that a recession may be on the horizon. Recessions can hurt...
2017 Tax Law Heightens Need for More Revenues
Federal spending will necessarily increase as a share of gross domestic product in coming years due to several factors, particularly the retirement of more baby boomers, health care cost growth, and...
New CBO Budget Projections Are Cause for Concern — Not Alarm
New Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections show that the budget outlook has deteriorated significantly, but that doesn’t justify unwise spending cuts or an economically damaging balanced...
Low-Income Mandatory Programs Not to Blame for Long-Term Deficit Problem
Mandatory programs for low- and moderate-income people provide basic assistance to struggling...
Federal Spending and Revenue Needs Will Grow
Spending and revenues will have to grow significantly as a share of the economy in coming years just to enable the federal government to continue carrying out existing functions that the public...
Federal Spending and Revenues Will Need to Grow in Coming Years, Not Shrink
Federal spending and taxes will have to grow significantly as a share of the economy in the coming decades. This is not a statement of political values; it’s a reflection of basic...
The Myth of the Exploding Safety Net
Total spending for mandatory federal low-income programs outside health care is only modestly above its average over the past 40...
In Forthcoming Trump Budget, Rosy Forecasts of Economic Growth Likely to Produce Highly Unrealistic Budget Estimates
Productivity growth would have to be more than twice what CBO projects over the next decade — and higher than any previous sustained period of productivity growth on record in the post-World War II...
Tax Reform Must Not Lose Revenues — and Should Increase Them
Otherwise, the entire burden of reducing the deficit to prevent unsustainable debt levels will fall on federal programs, including Social Security and...