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Setting a higher minimum wage would affect family incomes in a variety of ways, including increasing earnings for most low-wage workers and lifting some families out of poverty.
“As overcoming this pandemic continues to be a top priority, voters are also becoming more concerned about America’s rapidly worsening fiscal condition,” said Michael A. Peterson, CEO of the Peterson Foundation.
Medicaid’s role in state budgets is unique, since the program acts as both an expenditure and the largest source of federal support in state budgets.
America’s small businesses have been severely impacted by the economic downturn caused by the pandemic — and lawmakers have focused a significant part of federal relief on helping this critical part of our economy.
After a promising decline in recent years, the number of Americans without health insurance is back on the rise.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has been both a public health and an economic crisis. In particular, the closure of many businesses has resulted in an unprecedented surge in unemployment claims in the United States.
The primary deficit focuses on the difference between government revenues and spending, excluding interest payments. Learn more about the U.S. primary deficit.
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.
“This new report provides the latest evidence that our fiscal condition has worsened significantly since the pandemic began, and will need to be addressed once we’re through the COVID crisis,” said Michael A. Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.
Despite improvements to the labor market since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the unemployment rate remains high, especially for non-white workers. Get the facts here.
The federal government has enacted five pieces of legislation that provide relief to individuals and corporations that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. To finance those provisions, the Treasury Department has ramped up its borrowing.
On December 27, 2020, the federal government enacted a relief package that included a second round of Economic Impact Payments (often referred to as “stimulus payments”) to Americans.
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).
Reconciliation provides for expedited consideration of certain legislation; its use is particularly important in the Senate because it limits the time allowed for debate and prevents the inclusion of non-budgetary provisions.
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.
Beginning in mid-March 2020, the Federal Reserve initiated an aggressive policy of quantitative easing — which involves the purchase of government securities, corporate bonds, and other financial instruments — with the aim of keeping interest rates low and injecting cash into the economy.
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.
“With the nation still in the grips of a devastating public health and economic crisis, President Biden and the new Congress are right to explore additional relief and recovery legislation, but it’s also critical that we remain mindful of our long-term fiscal outlook, which has gotten far worse as our debt now exceeds the size of our economy,” said Michael A. Peterson, CEO of the Peterson Foundation.
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.
The coronavirus pandemic has caused a severe public health crisis as well as substantial economic disruption for every American. So far, lawmakers have enacted five separate pieces of legislation.
This budget explainer describes what Medicaid is, how it is financed, and who benefits from it.
Putting our economy on a path to recovery continue to be the most pressing priorities for our nation. At the same time, our fiscal outlook has worsened considerably.
The United States spent $686 billion on national defense during fiscal year (FY) 2019 according to the Office of Management and Budget, which amounts to 15 percent of the federal budget.
“The nation remains in the grips of a devastating health and economic crisis caused by the pandemic. Overcoming the virus remains the nation’s top priority, but the vast majority of Americans also recognize the need to address our unsustainable fiscal outlook once this crisis is over,” said Michael A. Peterson, CEO of the Peterson Foundation.
