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.
Does the President's Budget Increase the Deficit or Reduce It? (The Answer Depends on Your Baseline)
According to Obama Administraton, the President's FY2011 reduces the ten-year deficit by $2.1 trillion; or $1.2 trillion if the savings from the Iraq...
If You Think Snowmageddon is Bad, Blizzard of Debt Will be Worse
Experts concerned about the nation’s fiscal and economic outlook braved the snow yesterday to participate in a Senate Budget Committee hearing on...
Blue Dogs Seek to Take a Bite Out of Spending
The Blue Dog Democrats, fresh off of attaining long-sought statutory PAYGO rules, are now setting their sights on capping discretionary spending. They...
What Will the Budget Look Like in 2020?
In our Analysis of the President's FY 2011 Budget, we discussed that, if the President's proposals were enacted, spending would grow to $5.7 trillion...
One More FDIC Bank Closing
On Friday evening, the FDIC reported that it has taken over an additional bank ( First American State Bank of Minnesota) for a cost to the FDIC of...
‘Line’ Items: Washington Activities Affecting the Bottom Line
No Limit to Ploys in House Rules – The House raised the debt limit to $14.3 trillion on Thursday using a procedure that allowed members to approve the...
Economists Explain the Announcement Effect
In a recent economic study, André Meier, Giancarlo Corsetti, and Gernot Müller found that announcing significant fiscal retrenchment (ie deficit...
Throwing Stones
A number of years ago, two of our Board Members, former Congressmen Charlie Stenholm (D-TX) and Jim Kolbe (R-AZ), developed a Social Security reform...
Can Anyone Clip Byrd Scholarships' Wings?
Once again, a president is trying to get rid of a “small” scholarship program tucked away in the Department of Education. And once again, the attempt...
Monthly Budget Review Reports $434 billion deficit in FY 2010 Thus Far
The Congressional Budget Office came out with their Monthly Budget Review yesterday. It states that the federal government incurred a deficit of $434...
Expired Fed Lending Facilities
Earlier this week, four Fed lending facilities came to a close (see Fed release here), as previously announced, in light of improved conditions in...
Tim Geithner Joins the 'Announcement Effect Club'!
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geither has just joined CRFB's ' Announcement Effect Club', a group of prominent economists and leaders who have called for...