Blog
Welcome to our blog – The Bottom Line, where you’ll find up-to-date commentary and analysis on the most important news in the fiscal world. Below is a list of our blog posts.
Expanding Principal Writedowns to Fannie and Freddie
Sometimes, the timing of things can really work out in Washington. Yesterday, President Obama nominated Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC) to be the head of the...
A Roundup of Our Analysis on the Bipartisan Path Forward
Over the last two weeks, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has been analyzing the new proposal from former Fiscal Commission co-chairs...
User Fees in the Bipartisan Path Forward
Among the many proposals in Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles's new plan, “ A Bipartisan Path Forward,” is the increased presence of user fees for many...
MY VIEW: Laura Tyson May 2013
In a piece for Project Syndicate, former Council of Economic Advisers chair and CRFB board member Laura Tyson discusses the recent slowdown in health...
Brookings's Framework to Bend the Health Care Curve
Yesterday, the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings released a new report on reducing health care costs called "Bending the Curve...
Marc Goldwein and Ed Lorenzen: Measuring Inflation Right is Both Fair and Accurate
In the past, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has made adjustments to the Consumer Price Index without much controversy. But due to the method of...
Education Reforms in A Bipartisan Path Forward
Although most discussion of Erskine Bowles' and Al Simpson's Bipartisan Path Forward has focussed on its health and tax reforms, the plan also...
Peterson Foundation's Fiscal Confidence Index More Cause for Action
Today is the last day of April, and Peter G. Peterson Foundation has released the latest result of its Fiscal Confidence Index. The Fiscal Confidence...
An Update on Our Chained CPI Resources
With the chained CPI becoming a frequent topic among commentators, CRFB has put together a great deal of new analysis, which may be helpful in...
Discretionary Savings in the Bipartisan Path Forward
Over the past few years, lawmakers have made the most progress in discretionary spending in the deficit reduction effort. Additional opportunities for...
Budget Enforcement Provisions in the Bipartisan Path Forward
As we have written before, key elements of the Bipartisan Path Forward focus on reducing the debt as a percentage of GDP over the long term. Bowles...
MY VIEW: Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson April 2013
Erskine Bowles and former Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY), the two former co-chairs of the Fiscal Commission, have spent the last two and a half year...