News
Market Watch | The federal government has $3 trillion in loans on its books
The federal government has handed out more than $3 trillion in loans and nobody in Washington appears to be in charge.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Wall Street Journal | ‘Scoring’ Legislation for Growth
The House of Representatives on Tuesday adopted a rule that will change Washington and lawmaking for the better. When legislation is proposed, the Congressional Budget Office is tasked with estimating its fiscal consequences. In most cases, the CBO assumes there is no effect on economic growth, positive or negative. In the future, the House will instruct the CBO to take macroeconomic effects into account when estimating the cost of legislation.
National Review Online | Overselling TARP: The Myth of the $15 Billion Profit
The Troubled Asset Relief Program officially ended last month — six years after it was implemented, ostensibly to stabilize the nation’s financial system. But the Treasury Department’s widely reported announcement that it made a profit on the TARP is a fiction. The taxpayers’ loss on the TARP may have been less than the program’s original $700 billion commitment suggested it might be, but it was still a loss.
Blogs
Wall Street Journal | White House Budget Director Blasts GOP ‘Dynamic Scoring’ Plans
Shaun Donovan, the director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, criticized the push by House Republican leaders to require congressional budget analysts to estimate growth boosts from tax cuts and other legislative changes.
