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.
Fitch Calls for Credible Medium Term Deficit Reduction Plan
Following the enactment of the American Tax Relief Act a few weeks ago, two top credit rating agencies--Moody's and Standard & Poor's-- announced a...
The Concord Coalition Calls for Reform of the Debt Limit
With the Treasury Department undertaking extraordinary measures to avoid a potential default, the Concord Coalition is calling for both raising and...
MY VIEW: Maya MacGuineas January 2013
CRFB President Maya MacGuineas has an idea for the debt ceiling: instead of gaming out a potential default (which would be disasterous) or using some...
Federal Reserve Makes $88.9 Billion in Profit
Yesterday, the Federal Reserve announced in a preliminary estimate that it had made a profit in 2012 and transferred $88.9 billion to the Treasury...
The Commonwealth Fund's Plan to Tackle Health Spending
Earlier this week, we discussed the recent slowdown of National Health Expenditures (NHE) and how, while promising, it may not last. That means more...
IRS Taxpayer Advocate Report Shows the Need for Tax Reform
The complexity of our tax code has many advocates making the case for tax reform as we head toward the second round of fiscal negotiations. In a...
The Debt Limit Then And Now
Donald Marron points out, via an old "West Wing" clip, how raising the debt limit used to be seen. Of course, contrast that to now, when we see...
CBO's "Options for Taxing Multinational Corporations"
Yesterday, CBO put out a new report on the system for taxing U.S. multinational corporations, a somewhat complex but important topic when it comes to...
Reasonable Defense Cuts Possible
Recently, former Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) was nominated to succeed Leon Panetta as the Secretary of Defense. He would likely be presented a...
Another Slow Year for Health Care Cost Growth - Will It Last?
With health care spending a central topic in budget discussions, the actuaries at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have released a...
A Roundup of Our Analysis on the Fiscal Cliff Package
Over the past week, CRFB has examined the composition, budgetary effects, and economic effects of the American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA), which...
A Detailed Look at the Debt Ceiling Situation
Last week, as reported on our " Debt Ceiling Watch" blog, the U.S. reached the statutory debt limit, and the Treasury Department began using...