CBO's Budget and Economic Outlook—usually produced in January each year and updated in August—includes projections of spending and revenues under current law over the next 10 years as well as an economic forecast for that period. CBO also typically prepares an update of its budget projections in March each year in conjunction with its analysis of the President's budgetary proposals. Those projections under current law provide the Congress with a benchmark against which to measure the effects of proposed changes in spending and tax laws.
Budget and Economic Outlook
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Federal Debt and the Statutory Limit, September 2013Sep 2013 - CBO projects that the Treasury will exhaust its well-established set of extraordinary measures—which allow for additional borrowing without breaching the debt limit—as well as its cash balance, between October 22 and the end of the month.
Long-Term Budget OutlookSep 2013 - Federal debt would grow to 100 percent of GDP by 2038 under current law, CBO projects, and would be on an upward path relative to the size of the economy—a trend that could not be sustained indefinitely.
Updated Budget Projections: Fiscal Years 2013 to 2023May 2013 - A robust increase in revenues projected over the next few years will help shrink deficits through 2015. But deficits are projected to rise later in the decade, partly because of pressures of an aging population and rising health care costs.
The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2013 to 2023Feb 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.
Choices for Deficit ReductionNov 2012 - Putting the federal budget on a more sustainable path is likely to require a combination of policies, many of which may stand in stark contrast to policies now in place.
Economic Effects of Policies Contributing to Fiscal Tightening in 2013Nov 2012 - Significant tax increases and spending cuts are slated to take effect in January 2013, sharply reducing the federal budget deficit and causing, by CBO’s estimates, a decline in economic output and an increase in unemployment.
The U.S. Federal BudgetDec 2011 - CBO published an infographic that provided an overview of the federal budget in fiscal year 2011. The agency has released three additional infographics that provide a more detailed look at federal revenues and at mandatory and discretionary spending in 2011.
latest work
Economic Effects in 2014 of Eliminating the Automatic Spending Reductions Specified in the Budget Control Act
reportSeptember 26, 2013Testimony on The 2013 Long-Term Budget Outlook
reportSeptember 26, 2013Federal Debt and the Statutory Limit, September 2013
reportSeptember 25, 2013Press Briefing on The 2013 Long-Term Budget Outlook
presentationSeptember 23, 2013Breakfast with Reporters
blog postSeptember 19, 2013Federal Spending for Everything Other Than Major Health Care Programs, Social Security, and Net Interest
blog postSeptember 19, 2013Federal Spending on the Government’s Major Health Care Programs Is Projected to Rise Substantially Relative to GDP
blog postSeptember 18, 2013The 2013 Long-Term Budget Outlook
reportSeptember 17, 2013
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