Blog
Welcome to our blog – The Bottom Line, where you’ll find up-to-date commentary and analysis on the most important news in the fiscal world. Below is a list of our blog posts.
Brown: Don’t Take Financial Overhaul Offsets to the Bank
Major legislation reforming the financial regulatory process hit a snag today as Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) said he would not support the bill because...
Line Items: Extenders Debate Ends; Appropriations Season Begins
Extenders Put on Hold – Legislation to extend some tax breaks and expanded unemployment insurance has been put on the back burner because senators...
The Ten Commandments
Unbeknownst to the public, Olivier Blanchard and Carlo Cottarelli ascended Mt. Sinai at some point earlier this year. Last week, they came down with...
Our "Sexed Up" Website
In his Sunday Wonkbook post, Ezra Klein highlighted CRFB’s Stabilize the Debt interactive online game, which allows visitors to pick and choose for...
G20 Fiscal Goals: Like Losing Half Your Pregnancy Weight
The declaration from the G20 meetings in Toronto this past weekend sounds, at first, to be taking a strong stance on fiscal consolidation. “There is...
Business as Usual--Backdoor Spending Included in Supplemental
Here they go again. As they have for years, lawmakers are attempting to tuck billions of dollars for unrelated programs into the war supplemental...
Major Financial Reform Package Decided In Congress
Today, Congressional negotiators agreed upon a plan to reform the American financial regulation system—which, if it passes next week, would constitute...
The Long and Winding Road: More Twists and Turns for the Extenders Bill
For weeks, Congress has been re-tooling and re-tooling the extenders bill (HR 4213), looking for 60 votes to pass. Two things have held constant...
MARKETWATCH June 21-25
On the eve of the G-20 in Toronto this weekend, U.S. financial markets have continued to be dominated by safe haven effects as investors (domestic and...
Appropriations: A Train Wreck? No, Worse
Even in best years the congressional appropriations process usually results in a proverbial train wreck. And this year is shaping up to be such a bad...
Opportunities to Speak Up on Debt and Deficits
Americans will get the chance to have their voices heard on what policymakers should do about the unsustainable fiscal outlook at some upcoming events...
The ECB on Fiscal Consolidation
The European Central Bank joined the Announcement Effect Club yesterday in its June Monthly Bulletin. In evaluating the costs and benefits of fiscal...