Papers
View our recurring reports, which summarize and analyze the most important regular federal budget releases and reports.
The Cost of Full Repeal of the Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as “Obamacare,” includes a number of provisions to expand health care coverage, as well as several offsets...
The Cost of Rising Interest Rates
This paper has been updated and is avaible here Over the next decade, interest payments on the debt are projected to be the fastest growing part of...
A Bipartisan Social Security Commission
In 1981, the Social Security trust funds were nearly empty and President Ronald Reagan and Congressional leaders in both parties appointed the...
Reconciliation 101
Note: We have updated this paper, please see our Updated Reconciliation 101. What is reconciliation? Reconciliation is a special legislative process...
Governing through Leadership: Steps to Secure Our Fiscal Future
A Memorandum to President-Elect Donald J. Trump TO: President-Elect Donald J. Trump FROM: Governor Mitch Daniels, Secretary Leon Panetta, Congressman...
A Lame Duck President in 2017?
by C. Eugene Steuerle, Maya MacGuineas, Tyler Evilsizer, and Caleb Quakenbush This report represents a joint project of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy...
What Would Clinton and Trump Need to Do to Address the Debt Along with their Policy Agendas?
We recently estimated that Clinton's policies would likely add $200 billion to the debt over the next decade, while Trump’s policies would add $5.3...
Promises and Price Tags: An Update
Update: On November 2, 2016, we added an appendix to this update that summarizes the policies that the candidates have released. The next president...
Sizing Up Social Security's Solvency Challenge
Social Security faces a large shortfall between scheduled benefits and dedicated revenue, and the program is currently on a path toward insolvency...
Fix The Debt Co-Chair Senator Judd Gregg's Testimony on the Direction, Drivers and Dangers of the Federal Debt
On September 8, 2016, Campaign to Fix the Debt Co-Chair and former Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) testified before the Joint Economic Committee on "Federal...
CRFB Co-Chair Governor Mitch Daniels's Testimony on the Direction, Drivers and Dangers of the Federal Debt
On September 8, 2016, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget co-chair and president of Purdue University Governor Mitch Daniels testified before...
CRFB Board Member Alice Rivlin's Testimony on the Direction, Drivers, and Dangers of the Federal Debt
On September 8, 2016, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget board member and Brookings Institution senior fellow Alice Rivlin testified before...