Congressional Budget Office

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Congressional Budget Office

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Budget

CBO's regular budget publications include semiannual reports on the budget and economic outlook, annual reports analyzing the President’s budget and discussing the long-term budget picture, and a biannual set of options for reducing budget deficits. CBO also prepares cost estimates and mandate statements for nearly every bill that is reported by a Congressional committee. Numerous analytic studies provide more in-depth analysis of specific budgetary issues.

Sub-Topics:

  • Analysis of the President's Budget
  • Appropriations
  • Budget and Economic Outlook
  • Budget Concepts and Process
  • Budget Options
  • Budget Projections
  • Historical Budget Data
  • Long-Term Budget Projections
  • Monthly Budget Review
  • Sequestration Reports
  • Unauthorized Appropriations and Expiring Authorizations

  • Supplemental Material

  • Blog Post

related publications


  • TARP infographic

    March 28, 2012
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Report on the Troubled Asset Relief Program—March 2012

report

March 28, 2012

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Highlights

In October 2008, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (Division A of Public Law 110-343) established the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to enable the Department of the Treasury to promote stability in financial markets through the purchase and guarantee of "troubled assets." Section 202 of that legislation requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to submit semiannual reports on the costs of the Treasury’s purchases and guarantees of troubled assets. The law also requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to prepare an assessment of each OMB report within 45 days of its issuance. That assessment must discuss three elements:

  • The costs of purchases and guarantees of troubled assets,
  • The information and valuation methods used to calculate those costs, and
  • The impact on the federal budget deficit and debt.

To fulfill its statutory requirement, CBO has prepared this report on transactions completed, outstanding, and anticipated under the TARP as of February 22, 2012. By CBO’s estimate, $431 billion of the initially authorized $700 billion will be disbursed through the TARP, and the cost to the federal government of the TARP’s transactions (also referred to as the subsidy cost), including grants for mortgage programs that have not yet been made, will amount to $32 billion.

The estimated cost of the TARP stems largely from assistance to American International Group (AIG), aid to the automotive industry, and grant programs aimed at avoiding foreclosures. Other transactions with financial institutions will, taken together, yield a net gain to the federal government, in CBO’s estimation.

CBO’s current assessment of the cost of the TARP’s transactions is $2 billion lower than the $34 billion estimate shown in the agency’s previous report on the TARP (issued in December 2011). That decrease in the estimated cost stems primarily from an increase in the market value of the government’s investments in AIG and General Motors (GM), partially offset by added costs resulting from new initiatives in the Treasury’s mortgage programs. CBO’s current estimate for all TARP transactions is less than OMB’s latest estimate of $68 billion, largely because CBO projects a lower cost for the mortgage programs.

When the TARP was created, the U.S. financial system was in a precarious condition, and the transactions envisioned and ultimately undertaken engendered substantial financial risk for the federal government. Nevertheless, the net costs directly associated with the TARP, when taken in isolation, have been toward the low end of the range of possible outcomes anticipated when the program was launched—in part because funds invested, loaned, or granted to participating institutions through the Federal Reserve and government programs other than the TARP helped limit those costs.



monthly archive

  • May 2013 (2)
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  • February 2013 (10)
  • January 2013 (11)
  • December 2012 (4)
  • November 2012 (10)
  • October 2012 (4)
  • September 2012 (6)
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  • June 2012 (8)
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Choices for Federal Spending and Taxes

blog post

March 26, 2012


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Choices for Federal Spending and Taxes

presentation

March 26, 2012

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monthly archive

  • May 2013 (2)
  • April 2013 (14)
  • March 2013 (22)
  • February 2013 (10)
  • January 2013 (11)
  • December 2012 (4)
  • November 2012 (10)
  • October 2012 (4)
  • September 2012 (6)
  • August 2012 (5)
  • July 2012 (11)
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Alternative Approaches for Reducing Budget Deficits

blog post

March 26, 2012


  • Supplemental Material

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Revenues and Spending Under CBO's Extended Baseline Scenario and Two Alternatives Specified by Chairman Ryan

report

March 23, 2012

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monthly archive

  • May 2013 (2)
  • April 2013 (14)
  • March 2013 (22)
  • February 2013 (10)
  • January 2013 (11)
  • December 2012 (4)
  • November 2012 (10)
  • October 2012 (4)
  • September 2012 (6)
  • August 2012 (5)
  • July 2012 (11)
  • June 2012 (8)
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Presentation on The Federal Budget Outlook and Aid to States

blog post

March 21, 2012


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The Federal Budget Outlook and Aid to States

presentation

March 21, 2012

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The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2013 to 2023

Feb 2013 - Under current law, federal debt will stay at historically high levels relative to the economy, CBO projects. Economic growth will be slow in 2013 but pick up thereafter. Even so, the unemployment rate will be above 7.5 percent through 2014.

The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2013 to 2023

Feb 2013 - Under current law, federal debt will stay at historically high levels relative to the economy, CBO projects. Economic growth will be slow in 2013 but pick up thereafter. Even so, the unemployment rate will be above 7.5 percent through 2014.

related publications


  • Status of Discretionary Appropriations: FY 2012 House

    January 03, 2012

  • Status of Discretionary Appropriations: FY 2011 Senate

    September 30, 2011

  • Status of Discretionary Appropriations: FY 2011 House

    September 30, 2011

  • Status of Discretionary Appropriations: FY 2013 House

    May 03, 2013

  • Status of Discretionary Appropriations: FY 2013 Senate

    May 03, 2013
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Status of Discretionary Appropriations: FY 2012 Senate

report

March 21, 2012

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