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.
CRFB's Maya MacGuineas Says U.S. Must Raise Debt Ceiling
Yesterday CRFB President Maya MacGuineas appeared on Bloomberg Television to talk about how imperative it is to address our dire fiscal outlook while...
The Consequences of Default
Last week the Economist published an article entitled America's debt ceiling: The mother of all tail risks. This article explains what could happen if...
CBO Makes the Case for Strict Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) Rules
In their recent Long Term Outlook, CBO shows the nation to be on an unsustainable fiscal path if we continue our current policies. Under its...
MY VIEW: Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson June 2011
In a recently published op-ed in The Hill, CRFB board members Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson write that a serious fiscal reform plan must be agreed...
‘Line’ Items: Columbo Edition
Where Is Our Columbo? – Peter Falk, the award-winning actor best known for playing the rumpled, yet wily, Lt. Columbo, died on Thursday. Falk, who was...
The Economic Effects of High Debt
Continuing our analysis of CBO's Long-Term Outlook, we looked yesterday at the policy assumptions under CBO's two budget paths and at spending and...
A Solution for the Debt Ceiling Debate?
Despite House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) decision yesterday to withdraw from the Biden-led negotiations to avoid default, there is still...
Spending and Revenue in the Long Term Outlook
Spending and revenues in the long-term outlook is always an interesting topic to discuss. Just like with debt, you find words and phrases like...
Health Care Versus Aging
As we explained in our recent analysis of CBO's Long-Term Budget Outlook, the debt is on an unsustainable path. Only a decade from now, under their...
CBO's Elmendorf to Testify Before House Budget Committee at 10am Today
At 10am today, CBO director Doug Elmendorf will testify before the House Budget Committee on CBO's latest Long-Term Budget Outlook, released yesterday...
The Differences Between the Two Baselines
With the release of CBO's Long-Term Outlook, we thought it would be useful to break down the assumptions that the Extended-Baseline and the...
The CBO Long Term Outlook Is Here
Update: Our paper on CBO's Long Term Outlook has been released. CBO has just released its 2011 Long Term Outlook, detailing spending, revenue, and...