In this third part of the series, we look at the conservatives' approach to the tax expenditure budget.

[ Brookings Institution] President Bush's new tax plan is an answer in search of a question. It would provide little short-term stimulus. It seems unlikely to provide much of a long-term boost to growth or jobs. It is an incomplete way to reform corporate taxes. It would not boost investor...

Both the president and members of Congress have expressed strong political desire to appear to be "doing something" about the past recession and the current unemployment rate. This sentiment cuts across political parties and between the executive and congressional branches of government. In...

It happens every time. An administration puts forward an economic package, and then suggests all the wonderful things it is going to do for the economy and for the public. Few costs. Few trade-offs. Win-win. Then opponents start picking apart the pieces. But then they play the same game. We can...

Dynamic score-keeping -- the recording of budget feedback effects as people react to government actions such as tax cuts -- is a hot topic again, fueled in part by the recent release of a Congressional Budget Office study of the revenue effects of the president's tax proposals. The topic is also...

The Bush Administration's budget includes a chapter entitled "The Real Fiscal Danger," which highlights the projected imbalances in Social Security and Medicare. Ironically, the budget does not include any specific steps to eliminate or even reduce those imbalances. It does, however, propose...

Events leading up to the enactment of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (JGTRRA) highlighted the role of tax provisions that expire at a given date, which are commonly known as "sunsets." This article examines trends in the magnitude and nature of sunsets, and discusses...

In recent years, the largest budgetary decisions of Congress have been concentrated in two areas: tax cuts and expansions in health care, particularly Medicare. Given all the rhetoric that surfaced during the tax cut debate, it might be worthwhile to see how consistently these arguments have...

The CBO's new budget update provides the opportunity to reassess fiscal prospects and reconsider policy options. This paper examines the baseline CBO projections and adjusts the official data in ways that we believe more accurately reflect the current trajectory of tax and spending policies and...

The Congressional Budget Office's midyear update of the economic and budget outlook, released in late August, provides an opportunity to glean new perspectives on the fiscal status of the federal government. In a prior article, we adjusted the baseline projections to provide more appropriate...