Tax Policy Center

Deficit

Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

A "Normal" Budget Isn't Really Normal

Treasury closed the financial books on fiscal 2014 last week. As my colleague Howard Gleckman noted , the top line figures all came in close to their 40-year averages. The $483 billion deficit was about 2.8 percent of gross domestic product, for example, slightly below the 3.2 percent average of
October 20, 2014Donald Marron
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

How “Dead Men” Fiscal Policy Is Paralyzing Government

In his new book, Dead Men Ruling , my Tax Policy Center colleague Gene Steuerle delivers a powerful indictment of the current epidemic of irresponsible fiscal policy. But Gene isn’t writing about deficits and today's economy. His focus is on the long-term political, social, and economic
May 13, 2014Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

The Illogic of the McConnell Debt Limit Rule

In the aftermath of the recent government shutdown and the painful negotiations that brought the country perilously close to defaulting on government debt, policy experts...
October 23, 2013William G. Gale
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Congress Shouldn’t Forget About Tax Entitlements In Its Search for Deficit Reduction

Yesterday, Washington Post columnist Bob Samuelson urged lawmakers to “just eliminate…the whole notion of entitlements.” His provocative argument: The very word "entitlement" makes people believe...
October 22, 2013Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

One Modest Path to a No-Drama Budget Deal

The conventional wisdom is that next January, Congress and President Obama will be in exactly the same place they’ve been for most of the past...
October 17, 2013Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

The Un-Default: Congress Has Become A Seinfeld Episode

Like Seinfeld, the classic 1990s TV comedy, Congress is increasingly about…nothing. If the agreement reached by Senate leaders this afternoon sticks (and given recent history,...
October 16, 2013Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

It's Groundhog Day Over the Debt Ceiling

If you recently heard the news that Congress is debating the merits of raising the debt ceiling, don't think you have time-traveled back to 2011...
October 2, 2013William G. Gale
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Are Low Interest Rates Masking Future Deficits?

Thanks to artificially low interest rates, the United States has been able to finance deficits exceeding $1 trillion every year from 2009 through 2012 at...
July 9, 2013Rudolph G. Penner
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