CBO Blog


Back to the Classroom: A Visit to Harvard University February 24, 2012 I had the chance today to talk about the choices our country faces about federal spending and taxes with two economics classes at Harvard University. Martin Feldstein asked me to give a guest lecture in Ec 1420, American Economic Policy, and Greg Mankiw asked me to do the same in Ec 10, Principles of Economics. My slides can be viewed below.
CBO's Estimates of ARRA's Economic Impact February 22, 2012 As required by law, CBO prepares regular reports on its estimate of the number of jobs created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which was enacted in response to significant weakness in the economy. In its latest report, issued this afternoon, CBO provides estimates of ARRA’s impact on employment and economic output in the fourth quarter of calendar year 2011, as well as over the entire period since February 2009.
Welcome to the New cbo.gov February 21, 2012 Eleven years may not sound like a long time. But if you’re a website, it’s an eternity. CBO’s site has had a few coats of paint and a couple of replacement parts added over the years, but under the hood it was starting to look like…well, like an 11-year-old website. And so our old site has headed off to a well-deserved retirement.
Presentation to the National Economists Club February 10, 2012 Yesterday I spoke to the National Economists Club on our recently released Budget and Economic Outlook. My remarks reiterated much of what I said in several of last week's blog posts:
Treatment of PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury by the Veterans Health Administration February 10, 2012 More than 2 million service members have deployed in support of overseas contingency operations (OCO) in Iraq and Afghanistan since October 2001. Two combat-related conditions that affect some OCO veterans and that have generated widespread concern among policymakers are post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD, an anxiety disorder induced by exposure to a traumatic event, such as witnessing injury or death) and traumatic brain injury (TBI, which is caused by sudden trauma to the head and is commonly sustained by service members exposed to explosions).
Models Used by the Military Services to Develop Budgets February 14, 2012 The military services—the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps—use modeling techniques to inform parts of their annual budget requests. As directed by the Congress in the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act, today’s CBO study provides information on the models used to develop budgets for activities associated with operational readiness.
The United States is Experiencing the Longest Stretch of High Unemployment Since the Great Depression February 16, 2012 The rate of unemployment in the United States has exceeded 8 percent since February 2009, making the past three years the longest stretch of high unemployment in this country since the Great Depression. CBO projects that the unemployment rate will remain above 8 percent until 2014. The share of unemployed people who have been looking for work for more than six months—referred to as the long-term unemployed—topped 40 percent in December 2009 and has remained above that level ever since.
Federal Budget Deficit Totaled $349 Billion for the First Four Months of 2012 February 7, 2012 The federal government accumulated a budget deficit of $349 billion for the first four months of fiscal year 2012, CBO estimates in its latest *Monthly Budget Review*, $70 billion less than the shortfall recorded for the same period last year. Without shifts in the timing of certain payments, however, the deficit would have been only $39 billion smaller than the shortfall for the same period last year.
Tax Expenditures Have a Major Impact on the Federal Budget February 3, 2012 Do you receive a tax deduction for the interest paid on your mortgage or for the taxes you pay to your state and local governments? Would you think about those deductions in the same way if instead of seeing a reduction in taxes for those items the federal government instead simply sent you a check for the same amount?
How Would Some Changes to Current Law Affect the Economy over the Next Decade? February 2, 2012 This morning I testified before the Senate Budget Committee on our annual Budget and Economic Outlook, which was released on Tuesday. As I did in my testimony before the House Budget Committee, I highlighted many of the points that were included in Tuesday’s blog post.
CBO’s View on the Wall Street Journal Story about CBO February 1, 2012 The Wall Street Journal has just published an article entitled “Congress’s Number Cruncher Comes Under Fire.” Here’s our view:
Can Proposed Reductions in Future War-Related Spending Be Used To Offset Proposed Deficit Increases in Other Areas? February 1, 2012 We have received many questions about whether potential reductions in spending for overseas contingency operations (OCO), such as U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, can be considered as offsets to reductions in taxes or additional spending for Medicare or other programs. In this blog post, I will try to explain the issues involved.
Fundamental Fiscal Challenge: Rising Health Care Costs February 1, 2012 This morning I testified before the House Budget Committee on our annual Budget and Economic Outlook that was released yesterday. My testimony highlighted many of the points that were included in yesterday's blog post. One point I want to emphasize is the following: The combination of tax and spending policies that the nation has been accustomed to cannot be sustained over the long term.