#National Debt

In the latest Fiscal Fridays interview, Republican front-runner Donald Trump said that as president he would cut taxes on businesses and the middle class, maintain current Social Security and Medicare benefits, and yet still balance the federal budget in short…

President Obama and Congress may have put fiscal sustainability on the back burner, but the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has not. In its annual update of the federal government’s long-term fiscal outlook, released last week, GAO warns: (more…)

I. Introduction Federal borrowing is once again near the statutory debt limit. At the end of last year, Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner notified Congress that the $16.394 trillion limit had been reached and that his department would begin…

As election day approaches, it is appropriate to look at what we know and what we don’t know about the two candidates’ fiscal policy proposals -- especially since we are unlikely to get any more details before the election. In…

I. What’s a structural deficit? One possible response to the recent spike in federal budget deficits -- from $161 billion in 2007 to more than $1 trillion in each of the last three years is: Don’t worry. It’s all caused…

While elected officials are celebrating an agreement to extend the payroll tax cut, unemployment benefits and the “doc fix” on Medicare reimbursements through the end of this year, there would be much more to celebrate if the deal had included…

The tax proposals in President Obama’s latest deficit-reduction plan have led to partisan charges and counter-charges of “class warfare.” Journalist have focused heavily on his proposed “Buffett Rule,” which Obama says would ensure that people like Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett…

Efforts by the bipartisan “Gang of Six” in the Senate to forge a comprehensive budget deal have received vigorous support from members of The Concord Coalition's Board of Directors who have previously served in Congress.“The cooperative approach taken by the…