Econ Comments & Analysis
RCM | The Household Debt Picture: Better, But Still a Drag
While it is encouraging that Americans are continuing to chip away at the enormous debt overhang that has weighed on the economic recovery, digging into the data more deeply shows that the picture is more complicated and less cheering than it initially appears.
CRS | The "Fiscal Cliff": Macroeconomic Consequences of Tax Increases and Spending Cuts
A major policy concern for Congress is when and whether to address the "fiscal cliff," a set of tax increases and spending cuts that would substantially reduce the deficit in 2013. In projections made in March 2012 by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), this fiscal restraint, constituting 5.1% of output in 2013, would reduce growth to 0.5% from 4.4%. Unemployment would increase by two million. In August, updated estimates projected growth at a negative 0.5%.
