FISCAL BLOG

To illuminate what the latest economic indicators mean, connect the dots, and discuss how CBO analysis helps policymakers, CBO Director Phillip Swagel joined Peterson Foundation CEO Michael Peterson for the latest Economic Forum.

Today, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its Long-Term Budget Outlook, which offers a look at the nation’s fiscal health through 2052.

Despite higher healthcare spending, America’s health outcomes are not any better than those in other developed countries.

On the whole, the average retirement age has risen by 3 years since 1990, increasing from 62 to 65. Women, on average, tend to retire earlier than men, but women have seen a larger increase in average retirement age.

Many Americans, young and old, may be confused by the complex set of issues that comprise how the government raises revenues and allocates them.

Rising inflation usually prompts higher interest rates, which in turn boost interest paid on the federal debt and thereby increase annual deficits, making the nation’s fiscal outlook worse.

GAO projects that debt held by the public could more than double over the next 30 years — rising from around 100 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of fiscal year 2021 to 217 percent in 2050.