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- Report
This study looks at how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac evolved into the institutions they are today.
- Blog Post
Recently, the federal government has been recording the largest budget deficits, as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), since the end of World War II. As a result of those deficits, the amount of federal debt held by the public has soared—surpassing $9.0 trillion at the end of fiscal year 2010 and equal to 62 percent of GDP. The interest the government pays on that debt is currently low by historical standards as a percentage of GDP but is expected to grow rapidly over the next several years as interest rates rise.
- Report
CBO projects that, under current law, debt held by the public will exceed $16 trillion by 2020, reaching nearly 70 percent of GDP. CBO also projects that interest rates will go up.
- Blog Post
Under current policies, the aging of the U.S. population and increases in health care costs will almost certainly push up federal spending significantly in coming decades relative to the size of the economy. Without changes in policy, spending on the government’s major mandatory health care programs as well as on Social Security will increase from the present level of roughly 10 percent of the nation’s output, or gross domestic product (GDP), to about 16 percent over the next 25 years.
- Report
This issue brief analyzes the economic effects of waiting 10 years--from 2015 to 2025--to implement policies that would stabilize the ratio of debt to output.
- Report
This brief describes the economic conditions and budgeting practices that can lead to significant budgetary challenges--often termed fiscal stress--at the local level.
- Blog Post
The federal budget deficit was $283 billion for the first two months of fiscal year 2011, CBO estimates in its latest Monthly Budget Review, $14 billion less than the shortfall recorded through November of last year. Outlays and revenues alike are higher than they were last year at this time, by about 2 percent and 9 percent, respectively.
- Report
Based on the Monthly Treasury Statement for October and the Daily Treasury Statements for November.
- Blog Post
Today I testified before the Senate Finance Committee on historical trends in federal tax revenues and rates. My written testimony is a collection of tables and figures with descriptive text (shown below). It addresses three broad topics: revenues collected by the federal government, how taxes affect economic activity, and the tax burden and who bears it.
- Report
Testimony before the Committee on Finance, United States Senate