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.
My View: Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles
Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles are the former chairs of the Simpson-Bowles Fiscal Commission and members of the Committee for a Responsible Federal...
The More the Budget Changes, the More Things Stay the Same
With FY 2014 officially in the book, it’s time to look back at how spending and revenues have changed since the FY 2009’s highest nominal deficit of...
Gleckman: A Return to Fiscal Normalcy but Not For Long
In response to the release of final FY 2014 deficit numbers, Tax Policy Center's Howard Gleckman writes that this year's outcome just returns the...
Why Has the Deficit Come Down Faster Than Expected?
We noted in our discussion of the final Monthly Treasury Statement for 2014 that the deficit has fallen by two-thirds since 2009 after rising by...
Could Arbitration Help Control Medicare Part D Costs?
Medicare Part D costs have leveled off in recent years as pharmaceutical innovation has slowed and a number of blockbuster drugs lost patent...
Update: Falling Deficit is Not a Sign of Fiscal Sustainability
With the Treasury Department's year-end Monthly Treasury Statement having been released, we have revised last week's report today showing what the...
Changing the Baseline Could Mean an Extra Trillion in Debt
Republicans and Democrats do not agree on much, but both parties are talking about business tax reform that is "revenue-neutral," raising the same...
Is the 340B Program Living Up to Expectations?
The 340B Drug Pricing Program, enacted in 1992, gives hospitals and other providers serving disproportionately low-income populations the ability to...
The Concern Has Always Been Long-Term Deficits
With the FY 2014 deficit continuing a trend of falling deficits over the past few years, some commentators have argued that budget hawks are...
How Medicare Part D's Low-Income Subsidy Could Work Better
During the recent slowdown in Medicare spending, the prescription drug portion of the program, Part D, has been the lead actor in the story. The...
Delayed Action on Extenders Might Add to FY 2015 Deficit
While explaining why deficits have fallen from their historically large peak in 2009, we noted the main source of this tumble is a 43 percent rise in...
Falling Deficit is Not a Sign of Fiscal Sustainability
With the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) year-end Monthly Budget Review having been released, we published a report today showing what the 2014...