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Publications By Type
Document Type: Testimony
Financing Health Care Reform: Before the Senate Committee on Finance (Testimony)
Author(s):
Leonard E. Burman
The latest statistics show that 46 million Americans were uninsured in 2007. Health care costs threaten to bankrupt the nation if we can't figure out a way to slow their growth and pay for the government's growing share. Adding to the government's unfunded health care obligations would be reckless and irresponsible. In this statement, I will discuss some issues involved in measuring the impact of health care financing options, discuss an option to pay for universal health care coverage with a value added tax (VAT), and examine several incremental options to pay for all or part of health care coverage expansions.
Published: 05/12/09
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Addressing Short- and Long-Term Fiscal Challenges: Testimony before the Senate Budget Committee (Testimony)
Author(s):
Rudolph G. Penner
The prevalent theme in recent discussions of stimulus is that the risk of doing too little exceeds the risk that we shall do too much. But we must ask how much of too much we can tolerate. The risks of overdoing it are severe and are not emphasized enough in the current discussion. The main worries are that the speed with which the national debt is being increased could eventually cause a very rapid rise in interest rates on Treasuries and that federal, state and local bureaucracies may not be able to manage the proposed huge increase in spending. Turning to the long run, the testimony discusses the need to address short- and long-term budget problems simultaneously and the prospects for using the Conrad-Gregg commission to do so.
Published: 01/21/09
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Budgeting for Capital Investment: Testimony Before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (Testimony)
Author(s):
Rudolph G. Penner
The unified budget of the U. S. government is, in most respects, a cash budget. It is somewhat biased against public investment, because the benefits of such investments accrue over a period of time whereas the cash outlay is immediate. This testimony looks at options for directing more funds to highways, mass transit, and other public investments. It examines higher fuel taxes, tolls and congestion fees; capital budgeting; infrastructure banks; a capital revolving fund; public-private partnerships; and approaches to improving the efficiency of current grants and subsidies. It concludes that tolls and congestion fees are very promising as are public-private partnerships. A capital revolving fund would be useful for agencies that only invest occasionally. A capital budget and infrastructure banks are less desirable.
Published: 06/13/08
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Tax Reform and Taxation of Small Business: Before the Senate Committee on Finance (Testimony)
Author(s):
Eric Toder
A tax code that is fair, simple, and conducive to economic growth is in the interest of all Americans and of all businesses, large and small. In this testimony, Toder addresses the ways in which the tax system affects companies organized as small businesses, compared with larger enterprises. He discusses provisions of the current tax law that affect the relative incentive to organize economic activity within smaller or larger business enterprises and between different forms of enterprises and outlines how selected tax reform proposals would affect those choices.
Published: 06/05/08
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Individual Taxpayers and Federal Tax Reform: Testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Finance (Testimony)
Author(s):
William G. Gale
In the next few years, several factors will push tax issues to the forefront of policy discussions. First, under current law, almost all of the Bush Administration's tax cuts will expire at the end of 2010. A second factor is the rapid growth in the alternative minimum tax (AMT), which will increase the inequity and complexity of the tax system. A third issue is the expected increase in government spending over the next several decades. Despite these pressures on the system, tax changes are not inevitable, and achieving meaningful reform—that is, with substantial design improvements—will require strong political leadership. Gale's testimony focuses on some overarching principles that should guide tax reform efforts.
Published: 05/14/08
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A Blueprint for Tax Reform and Health Reform: Before the Senate Committee on Finance (Testimony)
Author(s):
Leonard E. Burman
In this testimony Burman outlines a plan for tax reform that would maintain progressivity, raise enough revenues to finance the government, and dovetail with plans to provide universal access to health insurance. It would combine a value-added tax (VAT) dedicated to pay for a new universal health insurance voucher with a vastly simplified and much flatter income tax. With a new financing source for health care, income tax rates could be cut sharply-the top rates could be cut to 25 percent or less. The health care voucher would also offset the inherent regressivity of a VAT. And, under the simplified system, most Americans would not have to file income tax returns.
Published: 05/13/08
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The Need for a Stimulus Package Now (Testimony)
Author(s):
Alice M. Rivlin
I am happy to be here this morning to urge Congress to enact a stimulus package quickly. In brief, I believe that: A well-designed stimulus package is needed now as an insurance policy to reduce the risk of recession or mitigate its severity if it occurs; The compromise worked out by the President and Speaker Pelosi is well-designed to stimulate spending quickly, because it focuses on low- and moderate income people, and should be enacted as soon as possible; The Congress should resist the temptation to delay the package by adding other elements, however worthy, at this time; Risks posed by the package—that it will aggravate inflation or add to the long-run deficit—are worth taking to help stabilize the economy in the months ahead.
Published: 01/31/08
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Options for Fiscal Stimulus (Testimony)
Author(s):
Jason Furman
The key to well-designed stimulus is to ensure that it is timely, temporary and targeted – the "three T" principles enunciated by economists as diverse as Harvard Professors Lawrence Summers and Martin Feldstein, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag. Three of the options that best meet this test are (1) a refundable tax rebate that is adjusted for family size and phased out for high-income households; (2) a temporary extension and possibly expansion in unemployment insurance benefits; and (3) a temporary increase in food stamps. Furman's testimony discusses the underlying economic logic that motivates the three principles of fiscal stimulus, applies these principles to analyze a range of stimulus options, and describes in detail the design of an individual rebate.
Published: 01/24/08
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If, When, How: A Primer on Fiscal Stimulus (Testimony)
Author(s):
Douglas W. Elmendorf , Jason Furman
Economists believe that monetary policy should play the lead role in stabilizing the economy because of the Federal Reserve's ability to act quickly and effectively to adjust interest rates, using its technical expertise and political insulation to balance competing priorities. Fiscal policy can also help stabilize the economy. This paper examines the conditions under which fiscal stimulus is appropriate and analyzes three principles of fiscal stimulus, that fiscal stimulus should be timely, targeted, and temporary. Elmendorf and Furman evaluate potential options for fiscal stimulus using these criteria and conclude with a discussion on the importance of improving risk protection for families.
Published: 01/17/08
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