America's long-term fiscal outlook / / Raleigh E. Walker, editor

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910960749803321
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: New York, : Nova Science Publishers, Inc., c2010
• ISBN: 1-61761-561-7
• Edizione: [1st ed.]
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (166 p.)
• Collana: America in the 21st century : political and economic issues series
• Altri autori (Persone): WalkerRaleigh E
• Disciplina: 339.5/20973
• Soggetti: Budget - United States; Government spending policy - United States; Fiscal policy - United States; United States Appropriations and expenditures Forecasting
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Intro -- AMERICA'S LONG-TERM FISCAL OUTLOOK -- AMERICA'S LONG-TERM FISCAL OUTLOOK -- LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- Chapter 1 THE ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF THE LONG-TERM FEDERAL BUDGET OUTLOOK -- SUMMARY -- PROJECTIONS SHOW THAT CURRENT FISCAL POLICY IS UNSUSTAINABLE -- The Effects of Current Policy on the Economy -- Why Can't the Contributions of Young Workers Finance the Benefits That They Have Been Promised? -- Trust Funds Cannot Finance Future Benefits from a Government-Wide Perspective -- ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF REFORM OPTIONS -- Prefunding to Reduce the Scope of Policy Changes -- Inter-Generational Equity -- Reducing Uncertainty -- Reform Options: Reducing Benefits -- Social Security24 -- Medicare and Medicaid -- Reform Options: Raising Taxes -- Reform Options: Individual Accounts -- CONCLUSION -- End Notes -- Chapter 2 THE LONG-TERM BUDGET OUTLOOK -- THE FEDERAL BUDGET OUTLOOK OVER THE LONG RUN -- Introduction and Summary -- The Outlook for Federal Spending -- BOX 1-2. AGING, EXCESS COST GROWTH IN HEALTH SPENDING, AND THE FEDERAL BUDGET -- The Outlook for Revenues -- Projected Deficits and Debt -- How Would Rising Federal Debt Affect the Economy? -- BOX 1-3. WHY IS FEDERAL DEBT HELD BY THE PUBLIC IMPORTANT? -- Debt as a Measure of Fiscal Sustainability ; -- Historical and Cross-Country Debt Comparisons -- Alternative Fiscal Scenario -- Extended-Baseline Scenario -- What Are the Costs of Delaying Action on the Budget? -- THE LONG-TERM OUTLOOK FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID -- Overview of the Medicare Program -- Overview of the Medicaid Program -- Growth in the Programs' Costs -- Medicare -- Medicaid -- Projections of the Programs' Costs -- Projections Under Alternative Assumptions -- Trust Fund Measures -- Slowing the Growth of Health Care Costs -- THE LONG-TERM OUTLOOK FOR SOCIAL SECURITY.; How Social Security Operates -- The Outlook for Social Security Spending -- Slowing the Growth of Social Security Spending -- THE LONG-TERM OUTLOOK FOR OTHER FEDERAL SPENDING -- Discretionary Spending -- Defense Discretionary Spending -- BOX 4-1. HOW FUNDING FOR OPERATIONS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN AND FOR OTHER ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE WAR ON TERRORISM AFFECTS PROJECTIONS OF DEFENSE SPENDING -- Nondefense Discretionary Spending -- Other Mandatory Spending -- THE LONG-TERM OUTLOOK FOR REVENUES -- Revenues Over the Past 50 Years -- Factors Affecting Future Federal Revenues -- Revenue Projections Under CBO's Long-Term Budget Scenarios -- Individual Income Taxes -- Other Revenues -- Implications of the Long-Term Budget Scenarios for Revenues -- Impact of the AMT -- Marginal Tax Rates on Income from Labor and Capital -- Impact of Inflation -- End Notes -- Chapter 3 LONG-TERM FISCAL OUTLOOK: LONG-TERM FEDERAL FISCAL CHALLENGE DRIVEN PRIMARILY BY HEALTH CARE -- WHY GAO DID THIS STUDY -- WHAT GAO FOUND -- THE LONG-TERM FISCAL OUTLOOK REMAINS UNSUSTAINABLE -- THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S LONG-TERM FISCAL OUTLOOK IS DRIVEN PRIMARILY BY HEALTH CARE -- Health Care Costs Have Outpaced Economic Growth -- Systemwide Growth in Health Care Spending Is Driven by Certain Key Factors -- THE WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY IS NARROWING -- End Notes -- Chapter 4 THE NATION'S LONG-TERM FISCAL OUTLOOK -- GAO'S LONG-TERM FISCAL SIMULATIONS -- WHY DOES IT MATTER? -- WHAT HAS CHANGED SINCE OUR LAST FEDERAL MODEL UPDATE? -- WHAT DRIVES OUR NATION'S LONG-TERM FISCAL OUTLOOK? -- STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS FACE SIMILAR LONG-TERM FISCAL CHALLENGES -- THE FISCAL GAP- ANOTHER WAY TO MEASURE THE CHALLENGE -- KEY ASSUMPTIONS IN OUR FEDERAL SIMULATIONS -- End Notes -- CHAPTER SOURCES -- INDEX.
• Sommario/riassunto: This text contains a variety of research related to the future of America's federal budget. Significant uncertainty surrounds long-term fiscal projections, but under any plausible scenario, the federal budget is on an unsustainable path- that is, federal debt will grow much faster than the economy over the long run.