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.
No, the New Simpson-Bowles Plan Does Not Call for More Austerity Than the Old One
We have already responded twice to a wrong-headed call from the Center for American Progress to abandon pursuit of a debt bargain in favor of...
The Structural Dove vs. The Structural Hawk
Economist Jared Bernstein often refers to himself on his blog as a CDSH, standing for a cyclical dove and a structural hawk. In other words, Bernstein...
CBO's Alternatives for Student Loans
After the deadlock last Thursday in the Senate over student loan interest rates, there still appears to be a gap between Democrats and Republicans on...
A Bipartisan Plan to SAVE
Recently, a bipartisan duo in the House -- Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-FL) and Rep. David Joyce (R-OH) -- introduced the SAVE Act, a bill to reduce federal...
NYT Gets It Wrong on Social Security (Again)
This weekend, The New York Times (NYT) editorial board laid out an argument for why they believe Social Security’s long-term gap is relatively...
Washington Post Makes the Case for Fiscal Space
When the financial crisis began at the end of 2007, it soon became clear that the government would need to run higher deficits in response. Tax...
S&P Revises Current Outlook
Standard and Poor's Ratings Services confirmed today its AA+ long-term sovereign credit rating on US debt, where it has been since the August 2011...
CAP Plan Threatens Fiscal Responsibility and Credibility
Yesterday we responded to a new report by Michael Linden at the Center for American Progress, which called for a “reset” of the fiscal debate, and...
Line Items: Poolside Edition
Dive In – The pools have opened to provide relief from the summer heat and an opportunity to work on those tans. Congress is back in session this week...
A Bipartisan Bill to Reduce Overlapping Payments in UI and DI
Bipartisanship will be a crucial element when it comes to reforming Social Security and achieving other budget related reforms in the near future. In...
Reset the Fiscal Debate, But Towards a Comprehensive Fiscal Plan
In a new paper, the Center for American Progress's Michael Linden makes the case for resetting the fiscal debate. His main point is that given...
A Closer Look at the Medicare Actuary's Alternative Medicare Projections
Earlier this week, we discussed the new Medicare Trustees projections which project that the Hospital Insurance (HI, or Part A) trust fund will be...