CBO Blog


CBO Releases the Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2012 to 2022 January 31, 2012 This morning CBO released the Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2012 to 2022. Each January, CBO prepares “baseline” budget projections spanning the next 10 years. Those projections are not a forecast of future events; rather, they are intended to provide a benchmark against which potential policy changes can be measured. Therefore, as specified in law, those projections generally incorporate the assumption that current laws are implemented.
How Does the Compensation of Federal Employees Compare with That of Workers in the Private Sector? January 30, 2012 The federal government employs 2.3 million civilian workers, or 1.7 percent of the U.S. workforce, in over 700 occupations and spent about $200 billion in fiscal year 2011 to compensate them. Recently, concern about the federal budget and about equity between the public and private sectors has focused greater attention on the costs that the federal government incurs to compensate its employees.
Lessons from Medicare's Demonstration Projects on Disease Management, Care Coordination, and Value-Based Payment January 18, 2012 In the past two decades, Medicare’s administrators have conducted demonstrations to test two broad approaches to enhancing the quality of health care and improving the efficiency of health care delivery in Medicare’s fee-for-service program. Disease management and care coordination demonstrations have sought to improve the quality of care of beneficiaries with chronic illnesses and those whose health care is expected to be particularly costly.
Actual ARRA Spending Over the 2009-2011 Period Quite Close to CBO's Original Estimate January 5, 2012 Almost three years have passed since the enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Back in November 2009, we reported in a blog post that actual spending in fiscal year 2009 of funds provided by ARRA was about 1 percent higher than CBO’s estimate for that year. How did ARRA spending turn out over the 2009–2011 period (that is, from February 2009 through September 2011), and how do those results compare with CBO's original estimates?
Deforestation and Greenhouse Gases January 6, 2012 The destruction and degradation of forestland, caused mainly by expanded agricultural activity in tropical developing countries, currently accounts for roughly 12 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Slowing or halting deforestation in developing countries is a potentially low-cost way to help reduce global GHG emissions.
Federal Budget Deficit for the First Quarter of 2012: $320 Billion January 9, 2012 The federal budget deficit was $320 billion for the first quarter of fiscal year 2012, CBO estimates in its latest Monthly Budget Review, $49 billion less than the deficit recorded in the same period in fiscal year 2011. But $26 billion of that difference resulted from shifts in the timing of certain payments because the regular payment dates fell on weekends or holidays; otherwise, the deficit would have declined by only $23 billion.
Raising the Ages of Eligibility for Medicare and Social Security January 10, 2012 Raising the ages at which people can begin to collect Medicare and Social Security benefits would be one way to lower federal outlays, raise revenues, and reduce long-term fiscal imbalances. A CBO issue brief released today reviews how ages of eligibility affect beneficiaries under current law and how delaying eligibility would affect beneficiaries, the federal budget, and the economy.
Do Public-Private Partnerships Build Roads More Quickly or at a Lower Cost? January 9, 2012 Currently, the federal government and state and local governments face calls for more and better highways but confront budgetary constraints in providing them. Some analysts have suggested that public-private partnerships might supply at least a portion of that capacity by providing additional financing for road projects and improving the efficiency of a highway’s construction and operation over the life of the road.