All Economist Mom

The fiscal gap facing the next generation of taxpayers is going to be huge. The solution include taxes, but what many young Americans don't realize is that soon they may be shouldering the majority of the country's debt, alone.

In light of the rising costs of college tuition around the country, coupled with the staggering amount of debt students have accumulated, studies are being done to examine a possible causal connection between expanding federal aid programs and tuition hikes.

While this year's report doesn't offer anything new, the long-term budget outlook is a good way to take a step back from current policy debates and put impending decisions in the context of the bigger picture .

Over the past generation, the GOP's pledge to introduce no new taxes has become the essential conservative credential. But some Republicans are refusing to sign.

Economists and policymakers worry that the recovering US economy won't be able to handle the amount of deficit reduction headed its way in the coming months. It can;t be avoided, but it can be made easier to overcome.

A new poll shows that when it comes to economic issues, Obama inspires his base more than Romney does his. But the two are evenly matched when it comes to carrying out economic objectives.

Just because deficit spending in general can be helpful in a recession and recovery and harmful in general in a recovered economy, doesn’t mean all deficit spending is equally good in a recession and recovery, or all deficit spending is equally bad in a full-employment economy.  There are benefits and costs in either situation.

The expiring Bush tax cuts would be worth more than $2.8 trillion over 10 years Instead of complaining about the size of the cuts and not doing anything constructive about it, policymakers ought to commit to using that size in a positive way.

If 'the rich' are defined as those who can afford and ought to be expected to pay higher income taxes, then the categorization is really much broader than multimillionaires. 

Increasing revenue from taxes will be difficult if the government can't touch a few common tax expenditures. But there are a few things that qualify for tax breaks that we can do without

In their calls for tax reform, Republican Paul Ryan and Democrat Kent Conrad have a lot in common. But the question over tax revenues continues to drive the two sides apart.

Many tax policy experts spin a simple fairy tale when they talk about how to reform the tax system. They say that we just need to cut tax rates, which will expand the economy, which in turn will reduce the deficit. But unfortunately, in the real world, we face real budget constraints and a real scarcity of resources.

In terms of tax policy, the president's budget has a few intriguing new provisions.

When it comes to taxing the wealthiest Americans, some methods are better than others in leveling the playing field.

The Congressional Budget Office’s economic outlook is out, and it doesn't seem all that bad  Except that the CBO baseline is a projection of current-law policies, which assume a lot of very optimistic things about Congress’s proclivity toward fiscally responsible behavior.

Time and again, Obama has proposed limiting itemized tax deductions in his annual budget. It's a sound idea that would raise a lot of revenue and reduce the deficit in a progressive way.

Mitt Romney claims to be "concerned" about the poor, but his policy proposals would seriously damage the social safety net that helps the country's poor survive.

Romney's 15 percent tax rate underscores the fact that even the preferential rate on capital gains and dividend income, is a big tax expenditure–a big way we “spend” money via the tax code.

This year, tax policy makers need to work together to achieve revenue goals, and never lose sight of the long-term.