#Economy

While Washington continues to struggle with its budget problems, state and local governments face growing fiscal challenges as well. These challenges will likely add to the demands on the federal government in the years ahead, complicating the already difficult task…

The new budget plan released recently by Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles once again demonstrates that it is possible to bring the deficit under control using a mix of spending cuts and revenue increases without harming the near-term economy. It…

Most plans to put the federal budget on a more sustainable path make a crucial assumption: That today’s younger workers will pay more of their own retirement costs than previous generations have. By setting aside more money for retirement, the…

Most fiscal reform plans assume that younger workers will pay more of their own retirement costs than previous generations have paid. But Washington already favors older generations in many ways, and younger Americans face a number of financial hurdles and…

In his semiannual report to Congress on monetary policy last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke threw in some solid advice on fiscal policy as well. Let’s hope lawmakers were listening.While some progress has been made toward reducing federal deficits…

Unless Congress and President Obama reach agreement before Friday, about $85 billion in poorly designed spending cuts for Fiscal Year 2013 will begin hitting a broad cross-section of programs across the federal government. The Concord Coalition supports replacing these automatic…

In his press conference this week, President Obama suggested that policymakers only need to pass another $1.5 trillion worth of deficit reduction, on top of the $2.5 trillion already enacted, to stabilize the growth of the nation’s debt and, in…

Many states face severe fiscal challenges that could be made even more difficult by Washington’s budget problems, according to the State Budget Crisis Task Force. The bipartisan organization focused much of its research on six states. Its recently released reports…