Facing the Future

Debating Social Security's Future

This week on Facing the Future, we discuss two very different visions of how to keep Social Security solvent over the long-term without a bailout from the U.S. Treasury.

Is There a Fiscal Doomsday?

This week on Facing the Future, we hear from a prominent group of former elected officials and economists who describe what a debt-induced fiscal crisis would look like i

Dividend Checks With No Dividend

This week on Facing the Future, we discussed President Trump's promise of $5,000 checks, tariff income, war spending and the economy with Jim Capretta, senior fellow at t

The Bond Market Is Sending A Warning On Debt

This week on Facing the Future, Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, explains why the cost of borrowing is going up and the implications of higher

Walking on a Fragile Fiscal Cliff

This week on Facing the Future, former CBO director Doug Elmendorf discusses the $40 trillion debt and why it matters now, not just in the future. He also gives his asses

Social Security Needs Reform, Not A Bailout

The week on Facing the Future, former Public Trustee of Social Security Dr. Charles Blahous describes why the program is in need of reform as it approaches trust fund ins

Congress Needs To Do Its Job

This week on Facing the Future, we discuss why Congress never does a budget and why that matters for the Constitutional process, the growth of the debt and the fate of yo

Mark Zandi on the Economy and Corrosive Debt

This week on Facing the Future, Mark Zandi, Chief Economist at Moody's Analytics, examines the state of the economy, the effect of artificial intelligence and what a debt

The Debt Moves Closer to $40 Trillion

This week on Facing the Future, we get a status check on the federal deficit and debt from Gordon Gray, Vice President of Budget Analysis at the Peter G Peterson Foundati

Fiscal Policies Have Abandoned the Young and the Working Class

This week on Facing the Future we considered how both political parties have deserted the working class, the young and the American Dream. That's the conclusion of our gu

Delaying Social Security Reform Increases Fiscal and Economic Risks

This week on Facing the Future, Veronique de Rugy and Jason Fichtner explain why Social Security reform is not only a retirement policy imperative but also a fiscal and m

The Hard Choices of Health Care Reform

This week on Facing the Future, Joshua Gordon, a Vice President of Health Care at Arnold Ventures, explains why growing health care costs are a challenge for family, busi

Deficit Dove Says The National Debt Matters More Than It Used To

This week on Facing the Future, Bobby Kogan of the Center for American Progress explains why the national debt matters more than it used to and why artificial intelligenc

GAO Warns on the Nation's Fiscal Health

This week on Facing the Future, we hear why the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) is warning the President and Congress that urgent and sustained action

Social Security's Turn For The Worse

This week on Facing the Future, Mark Warshawsky of the American Enterprise Institute explains why the projected finances of both Social Security and Medicare were substan

Big Budget Decisions Require Public Input

This week on Facing the Future, G. William Hoagland, Senior Vice President of the Bipartisan Policy Center, lays out the case for public engagement on major budget decisi

Mobilizing the Public on the Deficit and Debt

This week on Facing the Future, host Bob Bixby joins Maya MacGuineas of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Jonathan Silver of Affinity Solutions and Andrew L

Defense Increase Ask Is Short On Details

This week on Facing the Future, Todd Harrison of the American Enterprise Institute lays out the pros and cons of the president's request for a 50 percent increase in the

Congress Should Stop Fast-Tracking Higher Debt

This week on Facing the Future, former U.S. Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) explains why he supports a new fiscal commission as a way of finding solutions to the nation's grow

Congress Does a Budget Resolution, One Year Late

This week on Facing the Future, Molly Reynolds of the Brookings Institution explains why the budget resolution recently passed by Congress is highly unusual and a year be