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.
Low GDP Growth and Stalemate in the Congress
With the Bureau of Economic Analysis releasing tepid GDP numbers of only 1.3 percent growth and last night's failure of the House of Representatives...
If You’re Going to Rely on Savings Targets, Specify the Baseline
As CRFB has certainly been making clear, we would prefer a "big deal" that dealt with all areas of the budget and reduced debt as a share of the...
CBO on Selling Excess Federal Property
Many of the fiscal plans produced over the last several months -- including the Gang of Six plan and the President’s budget -- propose selling excess...
Fed's Beige Book Points to Slowing Economy
Fed’s latest Beige Book, released yesterday, pointed to slowing growth (but still positive growth) across many economic sectors and regions. On a...
Updated Boehner Proposal
Speaker of the House John Boehner has released an updated version of his debt ceiling proposal which, according to a new CBO score, achieves an extra...
More Support for the Gang of Six
As the debt-ceiling proposals from Rep. Boehner and Sen. Reid continue to be debated, support for the comprehensive, balanced proposal offered by the...
Recent Study Ranks U.S. Debt Fifth Largest Among Major Economies
A recent report from the Associated Press Global Economy Tracker found that the U.S. national debt (as a percentage of GDP) is the fifth largest among...
IMF Report Calls for Balanced, Comprehensive Fiscal Reform Plan
Earlier this week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released its annual report The United States: 2011 Article IV Consultation, highlighting the...
MY VIEW: Tim Penny and Bill Frenzel
In a new op-ed published in Investor's Business Daily, CRFB co-chairs Tim Penny and Bill Frenzel offer insight into how Democrats and Republicans in...
Comparing the Reid and Boehner Proposals
If you take a look at House Speaker John Boehner's proposal and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's proposal -- both of which increase the debt limit...
A Tale of Two Caps
Update: CBO has scored Boehner's legislation, showing it to reduce deficits by a total of $850 billion from 2012-2021. The discretionary caps are $1.1...
Boehner and Reid Plans Moving Forward
The state of play in the debt negotiations has been an ever-evolving spectacle over the last several weeks. First the Biden group negotiations, then...