Today we released a paper on updated long-term projections for Social Security. (Our last long-term projection for social security was included in the December 2007 Long-Term Budget Outlook.) As CBO has highlighted in previous reports, the number of Social Security beneficiaries will grow considerably as the baby boomers become eligible for retirement benefits. Absent legislative changes, spending for the program will therefore climb substantially and exceed the programs revenues.
August 2008
I recently gave a talk at the Retirement Research Consortium conference on the behavioral economics lessons gleaned from retirement research and how those lessons may be applicable to other pressing policy discussions. (I blogged about it here). In that speech I argued that the full benefit age seems to have a signaling effect on social security claiming behavior. The webcast of the speech is available here.
Contractors play a substantial role in supporting the United States current military, reconstruction, and diplomatic operations in Iraq, accounting for a significant portion of the manpower and spending for those activities.
CBO released a study today, conducted at the request of the Senate Committee on the Budget, on the use of contractors in the Iraq theater to support U.S. activities in Iraq. The webcast of the press briefing is available here.
CBO found:
Many of the most dramatic behavioral economics success stories come from work done in retirement research. Researchers have found, for example, that more workers participate in a 401(k) retirement plan if they are automatically enrolled (with the ability to opt out of the plan) than if they have to make an affirmative decision to participate.
CBO released the Monthly Budget Review today. CBO estimates that for the first 10 months of fiscal year 2008, the federal budget deficit was about $371 billion---$213 billion more than the deficit recorded over the same period in 2007. While revenues were about 1 percent lower than in the same period last year, outlays over the same period have grown by almost 9 percent.