Explaining Analytical Methods
- Blog Post
10 Frequently Asked Questions About CBO's Approach to Transparency
Transparency is an aspect of CBO's work that the agency continually strives to improve—and one about which it often receives questions. CBO's Director addresses some of the most common questions about the agency's approach to transparency.
- Report
CBO Explains Common Sources of Uncertainty in Cost Estimates for Legislation
CBO’s cost estimates, which represent the agency’s best assessment of a bill’s budgetary effects, can be subject to uncertainty arising from various sources. CBO describes how it addresses six common sources of uncertainty.
- Presentation
CBO’s Use of GitHub
Presentation to the Congressional Data Task Force by Kevin Perese, a senior adviser for data science and transparency.
- Presentation
Approaches to Estimating the Noncyclical Rate of Unemployment
Presentation by Jeffrey Kling, CBO’s Research Director, at the 67th Economic Conference of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
- Presentation
CBO’s Recent Appeals for New Research to Enhance Its Work for the Congress
Presentation by Jeffrey Kling, CBO’s Research Director, at Dartmouth College.
- Report
CBO Describes Its Cost-Estimating Process
The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires CBO to prepare estimates of the cost of legislation at certain points in the legislative process. This document provides answers to questions about how CBO prepares those cost estimates.
- Report
CBO Explains How It Develops the Budget Baseline
The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires CBO to produce an annual report on federal spending, revenues, and deficits or surpluses. This document provides answers to questions about how CBO prepares those baseline budget projections.
- Presentation
How Research Is Used to Assess Policy Proposals at CBO
Presentation by Tamara Hayford, Chief of CBO’s Health Policy Studies Unit, at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
- Report
CBO Explains Budgetary Scorekeeping Guidelines
CBO explains some of the guidelines it follows when providing information to the Congress about the budgetary effects of proposed legislation.
- Working Paper
A Simplified Model of How Macroeconomic Changes Affect the Federal Budget: Working Paper 2020-01
CBO uses the budgetary feedback model (BFM) to estimate how changes in the macroeconomy might affect the federal budget. This paper describes how the BFM is constructed, how it is used in CBO's dynamic analyses, and the model's limitations.