President Obama has proposed to freeze most domestic discretionary spending -- a step in the right direction, but not enough. The $250 billion in expected savings over the next decade is chump change compared with deficits that could top $10 trillion if policy doesn't change.
Institute Fellow Rudy Penner describes how the U.S. budget is prepared by the executive branch and Congress, and how it then is implemented by the executive branch. The budget preparation process could be improved, Penner asserts, but budget implementation works smoothly and efficiently. The...
In August 2009, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO, 2009) projected that the federal budget deficit would total $7.1 trillion over the 2010-2019 decade-under current law. That outcome would require the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts to sunset as scheduled in 2011 and Congress to stop "patching" the...
In his State of the Union address, President Obama no doubt will promise to attack the deficit. Trouble is, the deficit is only a symptom of a chronic disease that strikes at the very heart of democratic government. The disease? Fiscal sclerosis — setting future national priorities in stone long...
William Gale and Benjamin Harris give the president a B, noting their approval of the administration's aggressive use of tax and fiscal policy in pursuing the paramount goal of saving the economy-but also concern about the resulting lack of progress in efforts to reform the tax and fiscal system...
Unless Congress changes the law, the federal estate tax will disappear on January 1, 2010. For the first time since the 1916 inception of the tax, the estate of anyone dying in 2010 will go to heirs tax free, a result of the 2001 tax law that phased out the estate tax over 10 years. But that law...
This paper simulates the impact of the 2008 stock market crash on future retirement savings under alternative scenarios. If stocks remain depressed as after the 1974 crash, 20 percent of preboomers born 1941-45 and 22 percent of late boomers born 1961-65 would see their retirement incomes drop...
Consider an employer who bears an equal cost for their employees and must choose between the proposed subsidy for those on the exchange and the current subsidy for those who get employer-provided health insurance. What are the consequences for the employee? This article discusses the results for...
One arguably good thing about the current financial crisis is that it has broadened public understanding of the global financial system. Few people had heard of credit default swaps two years ago, but these instruments have, since then, forced themselves on the attention the most casual reader...
Let's freeze more than chump change
President Obama has proposed to freeze most domestic discretionary spending -- a step in the right direction, but not enough. The $250 billion in expected savings over the next decade is chump change compared with deficits that could top $10 trillion if policy doesn't change.
Budgeting in the Ideal and in the United States
Institute Fellow Rudy Penner describes how the U.S. budget is prepared by the executive branch and Congress, and how it then is implemented by the executive branch. The budget preparation process could be improved, Penner asserts, but budget implementation works smoothly and efficiently. The...
Desperately Seeking Revenue
In August 2009, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO, 2009) projected that the federal budget deficit would total $7.1 trillion over the 2010-2019 decade-under current law. That outcome would require the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts to sunset as scheduled in 2011 and Congress to stop "patching" the...
The U.S. Is Broke. Here's Why.
In his State of the Union address, President Obama no doubt will promise to attack the deficit. Trouble is, the deficit is only a symptom of a chronic disease that strikes at the very heart of democratic government. The disease? Fiscal sclerosis — setting future national priorities in stone long...
The Status Report: Obama and the Tax System
William Gale and Benjamin Harris give the president a B, noting their approval of the administration's aggressive use of tax and fiscal policy in pursuing the paramount goal of saving the economy-but also concern about the resulting lack of progress in efforts to reform the tax and fiscal system...
We need to ban the evil Santas
The two Santas came to Washington in 2000 and threaten to never leave. If we don't send them packing, Christmas Future could be very bleak indeed.
Where, Oh Where, Has the Estate Tax Gone?
Unless Congress changes the law, the federal estate tax will disappear on January 1, 2010. For the first time since the 1916 inception of the tax, the estate of anyone dying in 2010 will go to heirs tax free, a result of the 2001 tax law that phased out the estate tax over 10 years. But that law...
Retirement Security and the Stock Market Crash: What Are the Possible Outcomes?
This paper simulates the impact of the 2008 stock market crash on future retirement savings under alternative scenarios. If stocks remain depressed as after the 1974 crash, 20 percent of preboomers born 1941-45 and 22 percent of late boomers born 1961-65 would see their retirement incomes drop...
Comparing Subsidies for the House and Senate Health Care Bills
Consider an employer who bears an equal cost for their employees and must choose between the proposed subsidy for those on the exchange and the current subsidy for those who get employer-provided health insurance. What are the consequences for the employee? This article discusses the results for...
Taxation of Credit Derivatives
One arguably good thing about the current financial crisis is that it has broadened public understanding of the global financial system. Few people had heard of credit default swaps two years ago, but these instruments have, since then, forced themselves on the attention the most casual reader...