January 2013

  • CBO now plans to release its annual Budget and Economic Outlook on Tuesday, February 5, a day later than originally scheduled. That report will include updated economic and budget projections that incorporate the effects of the legislation enacted at the beginning of the year, a revised economic forecast consistent with the budget projections, and other changes to CBO’s estimates. It will be available on CBO's website at 1 p.m. (Details about arrangements for the press may be found on the press page.)

  • The number and cost of refundable tax credits have grown considerably since 1975. Federal costs (in 2013 dollars) peaked at $238 billion in 2008, but costs will fall to $149 billion in 2013 before reaching $213 billion in 2021.

  • CBO’s macroeconomic forecasts have been comparable in quality with those of the Administration and the Blue Chip consensus.

  • CBO analyzes pending federal legislation and enacted laws to identify private-sector mandates, which are enforceable duties imposed on entities in the private sector. About 12% of the laws enacted between 2001 and 2011 impose such mandates.

  • CBO reports annually to the Congress on programs funded for the current fiscal year whose authorizations of appropriations have expired and on programs whose authorizations of appropriations will expire during the current fiscal year.

  • CBO plans to release its annual Budget and Economic Outlook on Monday, February 4.

  • CBO expects that the share of older people who work will increase in the latter part of this decade in response to the scheduled increase in the full retirement age for Social Security.

  • How the federal government taxes U.S. multinational corporations has consequences for the U.S. economy and for the federal budget.

  • The federal budget deficit was $293 billion for the first quarter of fiscal year 2013, $29 billion less than the shortfall recorded in the same period last fiscal year, CBO estimates.

  • With the opening of the 113th Congress, we at CBO will be using this blog a bit differently than in the past. The “Director’s Blog” has always been a collective effort, so why not reflect that fact in the blog’s name? Thus, we’re changing the name to the “CBO Blog.”