FISCAL BLOG

After a promising decline in recent years, the number of Americans without health insurance is back on the rise.

The debt growing to double the size of GDP is, in many respects, a symbolic milestone — but it is a clear indicator of the monumentally unsustainable path of our fiscal trajectory.

The CBO released new baseline projections today, which show that the nation will face daunting fiscal challenges over the next decade resulting from the existing structural mismatch between revenues and outlays as well as the enormous amount of borrowing necessary to address the pandemic and its economic effects.

As of January 29, 2021, the Department of the Treasury has disbursed over $34 billion of the total $48 billion allocated to air carriers through the PSP1 and PSP2.

As lawmakers continue to explore policies to help the nation recover from the economic damage caused by the pandemic, a key part of the discussion is how stimulus checks should be structured and targeted for maximum effectiveness. Looking at recent spending and saving trends offers some clues.

The economic recovery is expected to continue and gross domestic product (GDP) will return to its pre-pandemic level by the middle of this year, according to the latest data from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

As the nation continues to battle the devastating effects of the pandemic, new data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) shows a sharp drop in the rate of economic growth at the end of last year, while the nation’s economy overall remains significantly below pre-pandemic levels.

One key part of the CARES Act was the Coronavirus Relief Fund, which provided $150 billion in direct federal fiscal support to governments in states, territories, and tribal areas to cover expenditures incurred due to the COVID-19 public health emergency.

As the United States borrows a significant amount of money to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, let’s take a closer look at a few key characteristics of Treasury borrowing that can affect its budgetary cost.

It’s important for lawmakers to consider the many available policy options for improving that outlook.