Brief Time To Take Federal Budget Off Autopilot
C. Eugene Steuerle, Rudolph G. Penner
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[Investor's Business Daily] In this article, Senior Fellows Rudolph Penner and Eugene Steuerle diagnose the hidden calamity confronting the federal budget and offer a mix of simple, powerful mechanisms to "make the budget ever more responsible instead of ever less." Currently, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid spending grows automatically, by default, faster than tax revenues as the population ages and health care soars. If Congress makes no changes, these huge programs will require an additional 6-9 percentage points of GDP by 2030 and "force other legitimate claims to compete for the budget leftovers."
Research and Evidence Health Policy Tax and Income Supports Upward Mobility
Expertise Upward Mobility and Inequality Social Safety Net Taxes and the Economy Aging, Medicare, and Long-Term Care Aging and Retirement
Tags Social Security Fiscal policy Economic well-being Poverty Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program  Medicare and private health insurance Federal budget and economy Retirement policy