On Friday, January 15, TPC and the University of Southern California law school will be running an all-day program  at USC called Train Wreck: A Conference on America's Long-term Fiscal Crisis. The title pretty much says it all.

This will be Nirvanna for budget wonks. Among the highlights: Alan Auerbach and Bill Gale will update their projections of future deficits; Len Burman will ask if we are headed for catastrophic budget failure (I think you know the answer); Eric Zolt, Ed Kleinbard, Beth Garrett, and TPC's Rosanne Altshuler, Bob Williams, and Katie Lim will talk about tax policy;  Jean Ross, Mathew McCubbins, Joshua Rauh, and John Matsusaka will prognosticate about the states; and Elizabeth Graddy, Don Marron, Dana Goldman, and Samuel Sessions will diagnose our health care future. There is even a free lunch (just the kind of thinking that got us into this mess in the first place).

It won't exactly be fun, but it will be illuminating. And warm. If you're going to be in LA next week, check it out. You can learn more and register here.