CBO Blog

Following a hearing on the budget and economic outlook, a Member of Congress asked for projections of tax expenditures as a share of GDP over the next decade. Today's post provides that answer.

After a hearing on the budget and economy, CBO was asked further questions by Members of Congress. Some answers to those questions may be of broad interest, so starting today, CBO will post three of them—the first is about GDP per capita .

Following a recent hearing, CBO was asked by a Member of Congress to provide an updated estimate of the budgetary effects of the Affordable Care Act. This post explains why CBO cannot readily provide a retrospective analysis of the ACA.

How can lawmakers address the imbalance between revenues and spending in the Highway Trust Fund? How does the unique budgetary classification of surface transportation programs limit the effectiveness of standard spending controls?

The federal government ran a budget deficit of $439 billion for the first eight months of fiscal year 2014, CBO estimates—$188 billion less than the shortfall recorded over the same span last year.

Under the ACA, most legal residents must get health insurance or pay a penalty. CBO and JCT estimate that 30 million will be uninsured in 2016, but most will be exempt from the penalty; 4 million will make payments totaling $4 billion.

The budgetary costs shown for selected credit programs would be higher under fair-value accounting—an alternative to the current approach for measuring costs—because it more fully accounts for the cost of the risk the government takes on.

Director Doug Elmendorf explained in his presentation that, under current law, the future of the federal budget will be strikingly different from its past in two keys ways.

CBO learns from many outside experts. Part of that learning comes through its Panel of Economic Advisers, which consists of distinguished economists with diverse areas of expertise. Today CBO announces the current members of that panel.

The federal government ran a budget deficit of $301 billion for the first seven months of fiscal year 2014, CBO estimates—$187 billion less than the shortfall recorded in the same span last year.