Budget Battles
-
Dems Ready to Go It Alone on Massive Covid Relief Bill
-
Republicans Hammer Biden’s Big Stimulus Plan
-
Biden Unveils ‘Wartime’ Covid Response Plan
-
Biden Signs 17 Executive Actions on Day 1
-
Yellen Tells Congress to ‘Act Big’ to Rescue the Economy
-
Trump's Legacy: $7.8 Trillion Rise in Debt
-
Biden Unveils $1.9 Trillion ‘American Rescue Plan’
-
Investors Tell Washington: Don’t Worry About the Debt
With a growing number of lawmakers expressing concerns about another massive, deficit-financed Covid relief package and the historically large national debt, Politico’s Victoria Guida reports that...
-
The Battle Over Biden’s Big Stimulus Plan
President Biden’s flurry of first-week executive orders comes as his $1.9 trillion proposal for the next coronavirus relief package faces intense Republican opposition, including from moderates whose...
-
Yellen Tells Congress It’s Time to ‘Act Big’ to Rescue the Economy
Incoming Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday urged Congress to “act big” and deliver more relief to the pandemic-ravaged economy. As she sought to build support for the $1.9 trillion rescue...
-
Orszag, Rubin and Stiglitz Call for a New Fiscal Framework
The consensus on the dangers of rising debt has shifted dramatically over the last decade. Economists have been reexamining how best to spur recovery and encourage wider-spread prosperity as...
-
Deficit Hits $572 Billion for First Three Months of Fiscal 2021: CBO
The federal budget deficit for the first quarter of fiscal year 2021 totaled $572 billion, up $215 billion from the same period a year earlier, the Congressional Budget Office estimated on Monday...
-
2021 Deficit On Track to Total $2.3 Trillion: Budget Watchdog
The federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2021 is on track to total $2.3 trillion, or 10.4% of gross domestic product, lower than the record $3.1 trillion deficit last year but higher than any other...
-
CBO Report Lists 83 Options for Reducing the Deficit
The federal budget deficit in October and November, the first two months of fiscal year 2021, totaled $430 billion, an increase of $87 billion, or 25%, over the same period last year, the...
-
Debating the Debt: Biden’s Team Reflects a Big Shift
Debates about the national debt and federal budget deficit dominated political and policy clashes throughout the Obama administration, but largely disappeared during President Trump’s time in the...
-
What Biden’s New Economic Team Signals About His Agenda
President-elect Joe Biden on Monday announced his picks for top members of his economic team, with choices that signal a strong focus on providing relief for a Covid-stricken economy and help for the...
-
Why Big Deficits Are Here to Stay (for Now)
By Michael RaineyFrom billions in income supplements for households to trillions in guaranteed loans for businesses, fiscal policy has taken a central role in the government’s response to the Covid recession...
-
Deficit Don? Now Trump Has to Sell His Budget Deal
They’ve clinched a deal. Now they have to sell it. The Trump administration and congressional leaders set out Tuesday to ensure they’ll have the votes needed to pass the two-year agreement they...
-
Trump and Pelosi Strike a Big Budget Deal
President Trump announced Monday afternoon that he had reached a deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other congressional leaders to raise spending on both defense and non-defense programs over...
-
Jon Stewart vs. Rand Paul on 9/11 Victims Fund
The bill providing compensation to 9/11 responders, which easily passed the House last week, stalled in the Senate Wednesday, as Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) objected to an attempt to pass the legislation...
-
Blanchard Defends a ‘More Relaxed Attitude on Public Debt’
By Michael RaineyRenowned macroeconomist Olivier Blanchard made waves in fiscal policy circles with his recent work that finds that government deficits and debt are less harmful than many experts have assumed, and in...
-
Number of the Day: Global Debt Grows by $3 Trillion
By The Fiscal Times StaffBorrowing is back, big-time. Global debt grew by $3 trillion in the first quarter of the year to reach $246.5 trillion total, according to a report by the Institute of International Finance cited by...