Explaining Analytical Methods
- Report
Financial Commitments of Federal Credit and Insurance Programs, 2012 to 2021
CBO describes the commitments the federal government has made through its credit and insurance programs, including housing, real estate, and student loan programs, deposit insurance, insurance for private pensions, and flood and crop insurance.
- Presentation
Economic Effects of Expanding Subsidized Child Care and Providing Universal Preschool
The Build Back Better Act would expand federal subsidies for child care and provide universal preschool at no cost for eligible children. Those policies would affect child care workers (including teachers) and families with children.
- Working Paper
How CBO Estimates the Market Risk of Federal Credit Programs: Working Paper 2021-14
This paper describes the methods and data that CBO uses to estimate the cost of market risk for three categories of federal credit programs: housing and real estate loans, student loans and other consumer loans, and commercial loans.
- Report
Estimating the Cost of One-Sided Bets: How CBO Analyzes the Effects of Spending Triggers
When analyzing proposals and programs whose costs depend on whether or not some uncertain variable reaches a specified trigger level, CBO considers a range of possible outcomes and their associated probabilities.
- Working Paper
Income-Driven Repayment Plans for Student Loans: Working Paper 2020-02
Learn how CBO projects the budgetary cost of student loans repaid through income-driven plans. This working paper provides information on the characteristics of borrowers in those plans and on the methods used to project borrowers’ earnings, repayment, and resulting forgiveness.
- Report
Income-Driven Repayment Plans for Student Loans: Budgetary Costs and Policy Options
CBO examines how enrollment in income-driven plans has changed and how those plans will affect the federal budget. CBO projects the costs of two sets of options that would change the availability of such plans or change borrowers’ payments.
- Report
How CBO Produces Fair-Value Estimates of the Cost of Federal Credit Programs: A Primer
In this primer, CBO discusses the methodological differences between the FCRA and fair-value approaches and how those differences affect estimates of the cost of federal credit programs.
- Report
Distribution of Federal Support for Students Pursuing Higher Education in 2016
In 2016, students pursuing higher education received about $91 billion in financial support from federal spending programs and tax expenditures. This report examines the distribution of that assistance among households, by income group.
- Report
The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2018 to 2028
In CBO’s projections, the economy grows relatively quickly this year and next and then more slowly in the following several years. The federal budget deficit rises substantially, boosting federal debt to nearly 100 percent of GDP by 2028.