Blogs

Avid readers of The Lookout will notice that my missive today is unlike any of my previous entries. If you are accustomed to the colorful charts and technical policy analyses that usually accompany my posts, my sincerest apologies. Those features…

In a much-anticipated jobs report, the Department of Labor released data today showing continued hiring in July despite a surge in coronavirus cases, albeit at a slower pace than in previous months. The U.S. economy added 1.8 million jobs in…

More than two months after House Democrats passed their version of the next installment of pandemic relief for struggling Americans (H.R.6800, the HEROES Act), Senate Republicans and Trump administration officials finally joined the debate and introduced their own: The Heath,…

On July 29, more than 100 people participated in a Zoom webinar on the topic of “health coverage for all.” The panel discussion featured three policy experts on a wide range of issues, such as the fiscal implications of expanded…

This week, I hosted an informal online conversation with think-tank scholars Brian Riedl of the right-leaning Manhattan Institute and Ben Ritz of the left-leaning Progressive Policy Institute. The goal: to bring together public policy experts with differing political philosophies in…

In its Monthly Budget Review for June 2020, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said on Wednesday, July 8, that the budget deficit for the year so far has reached $2.74 trillion, an increase of $2 trillion over the same nine-month period in…

The Concord Coalition routinely leads grassroots education events assisted by a number of educational tools that enhance public engagement. Whether we are conducting in-depth “Principles & Priorities” budget exercises that let users act as members of Congress tasked with reducing the…

Next week, the House of Representatives will debate its first appropriations package for the fiscal year that begins October 1. Floor action will start with a $259.5 billion package that combines four of the annual spending bills into one “minibus”…