This week on Facing the Future we discussed the interaction of fiscal and monetary policy with Dr. Thomas Hoenig, former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and a member of the Federal Reserve System’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) from 1991 to 2011. We got his take on the Fed’s efforts to engineer a soft landing and the implication…

This week on Facing the Future we begin with Social Security’s annual cost of living increase, announced by the Social Security Administration (SSA) on October 10. Then we looked at seven key findings from the 1994 bipartisan Kerrey-Danforth commission that are sadly still valid and still in need of solutions. Concord Coalition chief economist Stev…

This week on Facing the Future former U.S Representative Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-GA) discussed key differences between state and federal budgeting and whether there are lessons for federal policymakers. We also got some timely insights from University of Maryland professor of public policy Phil Joyce on whether the 50-year old federal budget process i…

This week on Facing the Future Rachel Snyderman of the Bipartisan Policy Center and Concord Coalition National Field Director Phil Smith describe the unprecedented size of our projected deficits and debt which add to the challenges that await the new president and Congress in 2025.De către The Concord Coalition

This week on Facing the Future we’ll focus on the Federal Reserve Board’s decision to lower interest rates for the first time since March 2020. To discuss the implications, we'll talk with Robert Carroll, Co-leader of the EY’s Quantitative Economics and Statistics (QUEST) group.De către The Concord Coalition

This week on Facing the Future, we'll talk with Ben Ritz, Vice President of Policy Development at the Progressive Policy Institute, about a comprehensive plan his organization released in July to greatly improve the nation's fiscal outlook by cutting costs, raising revenues and growing the economy.De către The Concord Coalition

This week on Facing the Future we focused on the economy and previewed the 2025 tax debate when key provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. We also discussed some new tax proposals that have been floated on the campaign trail. Our guest was Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President of the American Ac…

This week on Facing the Future, Dr. Kent Smetters of the Penn Wharton Budget Model at the University of Pennsylvania will give us his nonpartisan analysis of the budgetary, economic and distributional effects of the Harris and Trump campaign policy proposals. Also, Steve Robinson discusses new long-term projections for Social Security.…

This week on Facing the Future, Josh Gordon, Director of Health Policy at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), joined the show to discuss healthcare spending, prescription drug prices, and more. At CRFB, Gordon heads the Health Savers Initiative.Concord Coalition Chief Economist Steve Robinson joined the healthcare conversation, a…

This week on Facing the Future, Bob is joined by Bill Gale, Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution. A well respected expert in the subject of debt and taxes, Gale recently wrote a piece for Brookings called Back to the Future: Can the Government Reduce Its Debt Again? which discussed the future of federal debt management in the United States. L…

This week on Facing the Future we celebrated Social Security’s birthday. Wednesday, August 14th marked 89 years since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. Bob and Concord Coalition Chief Economist Steve Robinson assessed Social Security’s accomplishments, future challenges, and some myths about reform. Later …

This week on Facing the Future, Bob Bixby switched from the host chair to the guest seat to talk about his 25-year career as Executive Director of The Concord Coalition. National Field Director Phil Smith asked Bob questions about the importance of the federal budget, the fiscal outlook, and The Concord Coalition over the years. Later in the show, …

This week on Facing the Future we’ll talk with Jeff Holland of the Peterson Foundation about a series of papers released last week called Solutions Initiative 2024. It features seven plans from prominent think tanks, including one from our second guest, Andrew Lautz of the Bipartisan Policy Center.De către The Concord Coalition

This week on Facing the Future, we'll take a preliminary look at the tax policy proposals of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. In addition, we'll consider the tax policy implications of a case recently decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Our guest is Steven Rosenthal, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Cent…

This week on Facing the Future we'll look at whether the Fed has seen enough progress on inflation to begin cutting interest rates? Our guest is Gordon Gray, executive director of the Pinpoint Policy Institute. Then, we'll say farewell to frequent co-host Tori Gorman as she takes up a new job with the Congressional Research Service.…

This week on Facing the Future we'll get perspectives from high school students who negotiated their own budget plans at a recent New Hampshire Boys State conference. Then we'll review what Presidents Biden and Trump said about the debt and Social Security at the debate.De către The Concord Coalition

This week on Facing the Future, Bob was joined by Concord Coalition Co-Chairs and former U.S. Senators Bob Kerrey (D-NE) and Jack Danforth (R-MO). Thirty years ago they co-chaired a bipartisan commission on entitlement and tax reform that warned of unsustainable budget trends. Reflecting back upon the past three decades, the bright spots are oversh…

This week on Facing the Future, Bob Bixby was joined by Concord Coalition Policy Director Tori Gorman and Chief Economist Steve Robinson to discuss the latest 10-year Budget and Economic Outlook from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The CBO report projects that the federal budget deficit will grow from $2 trillion this year to $2.8 trillion b…

This week on Facing the Future, Bob Bixby was joined on the show by Dr. Michael T. Osterholm, Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. He also served as one of thirteen COVID-19 advisors on President-elect Biden’s pandemic advisory board in 2020. Osterholm provided insights into where we curr…

This week on Facing the Future we’ll examine developments on the national security front with Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution. Topics include the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza as well as competition with China.De către The Concord Coalition

This week on Facing the Future Bob was joined by George Mason University Professor Sita Slavov to discuss her recent essay Making Tough Fiscal Choices to Protect Future Generations and the relevance of long term sustainability to younger generations. Slavov has previously worked with the White House Council of Economic Advisors and was a member of …

This week on Facing the Future we'll talk with Jason Furman, a former top economic advisor to Presidents Clinton and Obama. He now teaches economics at Harvard University. We discussed the prospects of a "soft landing" for the economy and the crucial role of interest rates in projecting future debt.De către The Concord Coalition

This week on Facing the Future, we'll hear first from two UNH professors, Dr Carolyn Arcand and NH State Senator Dan Innis, about the relevance of fiscal policy to their students' future. Then we'll take another look at GAO's new estimate of government-wide fraud with Rebecca Shea, co-author of the report.…

This week on Facing the Future we took a close look at Social Security and Medicare, the two largest programs in the federal budget. Between them they cost nearly $2.2 trillion dollars in 2023, roughly 36 percent of total federal spending. They also affect the retirement income and healthcare of millions of Americans. On Monday, May 6, the Social S…

This week on Facing the Future we’ll look at the future of Social Security with former U.S. Representative Reid Ribble (R-WI), who served in Congress from 2011-2017. In 2016, Ribble released the Save Our Social Security Act (S.O.S.) with a bipartisan group of co-sponsors. We discussed that plan with him and why he thinks Social Security reform is e…