This paper reviews recent economic events and their impact on U.S. fiscal performance and prospects. We highlight the historic nature of the 2009 budget outcomes, the unsustainability of plausible ten-year budget projections, and the increasingly dire long-term fiscal problem. These conditions...
The U.S. budget is on an unsustainable path. That is because Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, which together constituted almost one half of noninterest spending before the recent stimulus plan, are all growing faster than tax revenues. If these programs are not reformed, tax burdens...
More than 10 million Americans require long-term care supports and services. Yet the system for delivering and paying for this assistance is deeply flawed. While most of the frail elderly and those with disabilities prefer assistance at home, many must live in nursing homes to receive Medicaid...
The financial crisis has provoked calls for a fundamental reform of the nation's retirement saving structure. This article argues that rather than dismantle the existing system, policymakers should build on existing reforms and expand the automatic 401(k) to help eligible workers save more and...
Washington Times op-ed, May 19, 2009. Expanding health-care access is a top priority for the Obama administration, and leaders in Congress are on board. Political leaders also agree that any health insurance expansion must not increase the deficit. So how do we pay for health care without...
Rosanne Altshuler, codirector of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, answers five questions about tax reform and her experience as chief economist on President Bush's 2005 tax reform panel. The panel's report, Altshuler said, should serve as a blueprint for President Obama's tax reform...
The latest statistics show that 46 million Americans were uninsured in 2007. Health care costs threaten to bankrupt the nation if we can't figure out a way to slow their growth and pay for the government's growing share. Adding to the government's unfunded health care obligations would be...
This paper outlines a plan for a VAT dedicated to paying for a new universal health insurance voucher combined with a vastly simplified and much flatter income tax. Top income tax rates could be cut to 25% or less and most taxpayers would not have to file returns. The health care voucher would...
Institute fellow Rudy Penner questions the costs and after-effects of heavy economic stimulus. There is a path out of our misery, he says, but it is surrounded by big and little mines, some of which have been planted by public policy.
Most advanced countries exempt returns to retirement saving from income tax, but private saving rates are falling and many people are saving too little for retirement. There is a trade-off between the goals of promoting wide participation in retirement saving plans and allowing more choice to...
An Update on the Economic Crisis and the Fiscal Crisis: 2009 and Beyond
This paper reviews recent economic events and their impact on U.S. fiscal performance and prospects. We highlight the historic nature of the 2009 budget outcomes, the unsustainability of plausible ten-year budget projections, and the increasingly dire long-term fiscal problem. These conditions...
Do We Need a Value-Added Tax to Solve Our Long-Run Budget Problems?
The U.S. budget is on an unsustainable path. That is because Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, which together constituted almost one half of noninterest spending before the recent stimulus plan, are all growing faster than tax revenues. If these programs are not reformed, tax burdens...
The Future of Long-Term Care: What Is Its Place in the Health Reform Debate?
More than 10 million Americans require long-term care supports and services. Yet the system for delivering and paying for this assistance is deeply flawed. While most of the frail elderly and those with disabilities prefer assistance at home, many must live in nursing homes to receive Medicaid...
Beyond the Storm: New Reforms for 401(k) Plans
The financial crisis has provoked calls for a fundamental reform of the nation's retirement saving structure. This article argues that rather than dismantle the existing system, policymakers should build on existing reforms and expand the automatic 401(k) to help eligible workers save more and...
Different Way to Pay for Health Reform
Washington Times op-ed, May 19, 2009. Expanding health-care access is a top priority for the Obama administration, and leaders in Congress are on board. Political leaders also agree that any health insurance expansion must not increase the deficit. So how do we pay for health care without...
Five Questions for Rosanne Altshuler
Rosanne Altshuler, codirector of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, answers five questions about tax reform and her experience as chief economist on President Bush's 2005 tax reform panel. The panel's report, Altshuler said, should serve as a blueprint for President Obama's tax reform...
Financing Health Care Reform
The latest statistics show that 46 million Americans were uninsured in 2007. Health care costs threaten to bankrupt the nation if we can't figure out a way to slow their growth and pay for the government's growing share. Adding to the government's unfunded health care obligations would be...
A Blueprint for Tax Reform and Health Reform
This paper outlines a plan for a VAT dedicated to paying for a new universal health insurance voucher combined with a vastly simplified and much flatter income tax. Top income tax rates could be cut to 25% or less and most taxpayers would not have to file returns. The health care voucher would...
Economic Minefields
Institute fellow Rudy Penner questions the costs and after-effects of heavy economic stimulus. There is a path out of our misery, he says, but it is surrounded by big and little mines, some of which have been planted by public policy.
Taxation of Saving for Retirement: Current Rules and Alternative Reform Approaches
Most advanced countries exempt returns to retirement saving from income tax, but private saving rates are falling and many people are saving too little for retirement. There is a trade-off between the goals of promoting wide participation in retirement saving plans and allowing more choice to...