Explaining Analytical Methods
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How CBO and Joint Committee Staff Prepare Dynamic Analyses
CBO and staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation respond to questions about how they develop estimates of the budgetary and economic effects of legislation.
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Business Tax Credits for Wind and Solar Power
CBO provides an overview of federal tax credits that support investment in wind and solar electric power. The agency also explains how it assesses the credits’ budgetary and economic effects and how its baseline reflects JCT’s revenue estimates.
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CBO’s Benchmark Projection of Greenhouse Gas Emissions
CBO maintains a benchmark projection of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to estimate the effects of certain emissions policies. According to that projection, GHG emissions in the United States decline by about 8 percent from 2025 to 2034.
- Working Paper
How CBO Uses the ReEDS Model to Analyze Policies in the Electric Power Sector: Working Paper 2024-02
This working paper provides an overview of CBO-ReEDS, an adapted version of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Regional Energy Deployment System (NREL’s ReEDS) model for analyzing policies in the electric power sector.
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Financial Commitments of Federal Credit and Insurance Programs, 2012 to 2021
CBO describes the commitments the federal government has made through its credit and insurance programs, including housing, real estate, and student loan programs, deposit insurance, insurance for private pensions, and flood and crop insurance.
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Army Corps of Engineers: Budgetary History and Projections
CBO examines trends in funding and spending for the Army Corps of Engineers and explains how CBO treats that agency’s activities in its baseline and cost estimates.
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How CBO Analyzes the Effects of Charging the Oil and Gas Industry for Methane Emissions
CBO describes how imposing a charge for methane emissions generally affects emissions, companies’ costs, and natural gas prices and discusses how the agency analyzes such a charge.
- Working Paper
How Carbon Dioxide Emissions Would Respond to a Tax or Allowance Price: An Update: Working Paper 2021-16
CBO describes its recent update of parameters that characterize the relationship between emissions of carbon dioxide and changes in the price of those emissions.
- Working Paper
CBO's Oil Price Forecasting Record: Working Paper 2020-03
Oil prices are one of the economic variables that underlie CBO's projections of the federal budget. This paper describes CBO's methods to forecast oil prices and evaluates the quality of the agency's historical forecasts.
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Expected Costs of Damage From Hurricane Winds and Storm-Related Flooding
Expected annual economic losses from most types of damage caused by hurricane winds and storm-related flooding total $54 billion—$34 billion in losses to households, $9 billion to commercial businesses, and $12 billion to the public sector.