Tax Policy Center

Debt

Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Uncle Sam’s Trillion-Dollar Portfolio Partly Offsets the Public Debt

When policy folks talk about America’s federal borrowing, their go-to measures are the public debt, currently $12 trillion, and its ratio to gross domestic product,...
June 24, 2013Donald Marron
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Uncle Sam’s Growing Investment Portfolio

The federal government has been borrowing rapidly to finance recent budget deficits. But that’s not the only reason it’s gone deeper into debt. Uncle Sam...
June 17, 2013Donald Marron
Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

“Common Sense” Aside, What Do We Really Know About Capital Income Taxes and Growth?

If you’re discussing tax policy with someone who asserts that his or her point is “just common sense,” this could indicate one of two things:...
March 15, 2013Chris Sanchirico
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

What You Should Know About the Budget Outlook

The Congressional Budget Office released its latest Budget and Economic Outlook earlier this week. As always, the Outlook provides insight into the fiscal status of...
February 8, 2013William G. Gale
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Ryan Would Shift the Fiscal Burden to Low and Middle-Income Households

The budget proposal House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) released last week is, essentially, an effort to have low- and middle-class households bear the...
March 27, 2012William G. Gale
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Why Higher Taxes Will Have to be Part of the Medium- and Long-Term Fiscal Solution

If we are going to reduce the medium- and long-deficit, new tax revenues must be part of the solution. And those taxes must be progressive...
January 23, 2012William G. Gale
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Pick Your Poison: VAT or Higher Income Tax Rates

With congressional deficit reduction efforts largely collapsed, the question remains: What are we going to do about the nation’s long-term budget mess? Since any realistic...
December 5, 2011Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

S&P's $2 Trillion Error

In the final hours before Friday’s historic downgrade, Standard & Poors gave Treasury an advance copy of its report. Amazingly, that report contained a $2...
August 7, 2011Donald Marron
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Five Things You Should Know About the S&P Downgrade

On Friday night, Standard and Poors announced that it was downgrading U.S. long-term sovereign debt from AAA to AA+ , the first such downgrade in...
August 6, 2011Donald Marron
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Does the Gang of Six Cut Taxes or Raise Them?

Here’s a quick multiple choice quiz about the Gang of Six’s new budget proposal. Over the next ten years, would the proposal: a. Cut taxes...
July 20, 2011Donald Marron