Tax Policy Center

federal budget

Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

Ramaswamy: A Dynamic Debate Performance Paired With An Incoherent Economic Agenda

Following the first Republican presidential primary debate, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy seems to be having a moment. That makes it a good time to explore his...
September 1, 2023Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

House GOP Plan To Repeal IRA Incentives Would Hike Taxes For Households, Tilted Toward High-Income Earners

House Republicans on April 26 passed legislation on a party-line vote a bill that would rescind many Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) clean energy tax incentives in exchange...
May 3, 2023John Buhl
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Why Aren’t Kids A Higher Priority For Congress?

During the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, Congress substantially increased benefits for children, including big boosts in the Child Tax Credit...
November 22, 2022C. Eugene Steuerle
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Should We Worry About The Long-Term Federal Debt In An Era of Low Interest Rates?

For decades, conventional wisdom said that high levels of federal debt created a significant drag on the economy by diverting money that could more productively...
December 7, 2020Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

It’s Not News That Congress’s Budget Process Is A Wreck, But It Should Be

On September 30, President Trump held a fundraiser in St. Paul MN, an event that received a lot of attention because he participated even after...
October 9, 2020Leonard E. Burman
: TaxVox

Americans Overestimate Foreign Aid? Not So Fast

You’ve probably heard the statistic: “On average, Americans think 28 percent of the federal budget is spent on foreign aid, when it is about 1...
March 19, 2018Vanessa Williamson
: TaxVox

A New Dynamic Analysis Confirms Estimates That A Trump-Like Tax Plan Would Add Trillions To the Deficit

A new “dynamic” analysis (one that includes macroeconomic effects) finds that tax cuts consistent with what the Trump Administration outlined in April would reduce federal...
July 27, 2017Benjamin R. Page
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Trump's Fiscal Math Problem

This week, the Trump Administration said it would ask Congress for big increases in defense spending which it would finance by...
March 1, 2017Howard Gleckman
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Budgeting for federal lending programs is still a mess 

On Monday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) defended the current method for budgeting for federal lending programs, known as “credit reform.” By endorsing the status quo, GAO puts itself at odds with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which has championed a “fair value” alternative.
March 1, 2016Donald Marron
: TaxVox

If Wishes Were Taxes, Reformers Would Smile

Everything could come up roses for Rubio and Lee. At least one version of dynamic scoring—accounting for macroeconomic effects of a proposal—has produced some rather glowing estimates of senators Marco Rubio’s and Mike Lee’s tax plan. The Tax Foundation says the Rubio-Lee plan would increase tax
March 9, 2015Renu Zaretsky