Today CBO released a report that summarizes its analyses of the economic effects of proposed policy changes aimed at reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.
CBO Blog
Some legislation considered by the current and previous Congresses has proposed combining cap-and-trade programs with various regulatory standards to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Yesterday CBO released anissue briefthat describes how regulatory standards can interact with a cap-and-trade program, using examples related to H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, which passed the House of Representatives on June 26, 2009.
CBO has just issued a preliminary analysis of specifications for the Chairmans mark of the Americas Healthy Future Act, which was released by the Senate Finance Committee earlier today.
Today CBO released a letter responding to a number of questions from the Ranking Memberof the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) about the effects of health insurance legislation considered by the Committee this summer. CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) issued a preliminary and partial analysis of that legislation as it was introduced on July 1, 2009.
Today CBO released a background paper examining whether the demand for assets, such as stocks and bonds, will fall after the retirement of the baby-boomer generationthe segment of the nations population born between 1946 and 1964, whose oldest members turned 62 in 2008. Some economists have warned of the possibility of a dramatic decline in demand as baby boomers sell off their assets to finance their retirement; they assert that the sell-off could cause a dramatic decline in prices.
Today CBO released its estimates of federal revenues and outlays for the first 11 months of fiscal year 2009. The federal budget deficit through August was almost $1.4 trillion, CBO estimates, close to $900billion greater than the deficit recorded through August 2008. Outlays were $518 billion (or 19 percent) higher and revenues $365 billion (or 16 percent) lower than the amounts recorded during the same period last year.
Today CBO released a letter on the changes in Medicare Part D premiums that would result from certain provisions of H.R. 3200, Americas Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, as introduced on July 14. According to CBOs estimates, enacting those changes would lead to an average increase in premiums for Part D beneficiaries of about 5 percent in 2011, rising to about 20 percent in 2019.
CBO released updated economic and budget projections today, showing baseline (i.e., current law) budget deficits of about $1.6 trillion for the current fiscal year that ends on September 30 and roughly $7.1 trillion for the 2010-2019 period. That 10-year total is about $2.7 trillion higher than the baseline projection CBO published in March 2009.
Today CBO issued its annual summer update of the budget and economic outlook. CBO estimates that the federal budget deficit for 2009 will total $1.6 trillion, which, at 11.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), will be the highest since World War II. That deficit figure results from a combination of weak revenues and elevated spending associated with the economic downturn and financial turmoil.
Today CBO released a study that examines the Veterans Health Administrations (VHAs) experience with quality improvement and health information technology. The assessment also examines how VHAs system serves its patients. The information contained in this reportmay prove useful to private-sector health providers who are working to improve the quality of care in their own facilities as well as to analysts and decision makers considering how veterans health care might be affected by proposals for health care reform.