May 18, 2013

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The Federal Budget Challenge
Wednesday, November 11, 2009 - 11:01 AM

This week marks the debut of Concord's new, online budget game -- The Federal Budget Challenge.

Based on our Principles and Priorities game, which has been used for years in hundreds of classrooms and town hall meetings across the country, users work through 11 different policy categories and choose the spending and tax policies that fit their preferences while being mindful of their budgetary effects.

Developed in partnership with the California-based non-profit Next 10, this online tool tracks the effect of individual policy choices on interest costs and the projected 10-year budget deficit as the choices are made. The game has already been mentioned in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

It is important to point out what this game is and isn't. The...

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New Budget Numbers
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 - 12:14 PM

Throughout the day, Concord will be releasing new items related to today's budget numbers released by the CBO and OMB.

For immediate reactions, check out our Twitter feed.

Our new Concord Plausible Baseline Chart with its backup data can be found on our baseline page.

A press release is in the works (it is up now--JG), but for now a few interesting statistics:

  • Our baseline, which is based on the CBO baseline and extends current policy, shows a $14.4 trillion in additional deficits over the next 10 years.
  • By 2019, debt held by the public will pass 100% of GDP (102%)
  • In 2019, interest on the debt will cost over $1 trillion. At 5% of GDP, that will be more than spending on National defense or domestic discretionary programs.

More soon...

...in the...

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Congrats to EconomistMom!
Thursday, July 16, 2009 - 10:20 AM

The Tabulation and The Concord Coalition would like to congratulate our own Diane Lim Rogers for her blog EconomistMom.com being named as one of the Wall Street Journal's “Top 25" economics blogs.

In addition to being Concord's Chief Economist and the mother of four, Diane finds spare time to do her own blogging about sometimes complicated fiscal issues in an easily digestable, accesible and fun way -- and that skill is one of the many things that the Wall Street Journal recognized today.

Well done Diane!

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80 Million Strong!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009 - 4:26 PM

Over the last week and a half, I've watched the launch and rapid growth of a very promising movement. It is called "80 Million Strong for Young American Jobs" and represents the coalescence of over a dozen leading youth organizations to advocate for a new American economy.

This is the kind of movement, the kind of coordinated effort that America needs to tackle our greatest and most glaring problems. 80 Million Strong promises not just the organization and conviction to accomplish their goals, but the understanding and foresight to accomplish the right goals without compromising our future. It is the goal of The Concord Coalition to educate the public about the importance of fiscal sustainability. It is the goal of 80 Million Strong to be the voice of the Millennials so they can hold government accountable to the next generation. At the intersection of the two, I hope to see the political strength of young Americans used judiciously to advocate for sound government and a secure fiscal future.

As Concord's Youth Outreach Coordinator, I am proud to be a part of the 80 Million Strong coalition, and look forward to witnessing their continued growth over the coming months.

Be sure to...

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New Concord Series on Health Care
Friday, May 15, 2009 - 3:26 PM

Today, the Concord Coalition released the first issue in our new Series on Health Care and Medicare entitled: "The Nation’s Health Care Conundrum: Where Do We Go From Here?"

This series is designed to illuminate how intertwined the health care challenge is with the nation's long-term fiscal challenge. As Congress and the President prepare to create legislation addressing health care reform, it is essential that this linkage is recognized in any reform package. The legislation must address health care cost control and Medicare cost control in a way that can work quickly to get the nation on a more sustainable fiscal path, especially since demographic changes by themselves will severely strain entitlement programs and the broader federal budget.

The multi-issue series was written by David Koitz, a former analyst for The Congressional Research Service and the Congressional Budget Office. It will be released over the next two months and will also be accompanied on our web site by video briefs highlighting the issues discussed in the series.

Late...

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I.O.U.S.A. on CNN This Weekend
Friday, January 9, 2009 - 4:36 PM

Fresh off its appearance as one of five documentaries competing for a Critics Choice Award last night, I.O.U.S.A. will air on CNN two times this weekend.

Accompanying clips of the film will be a panel of experts discussing the movie in greater detail as well as its relevance to the current economic crisis. The event will be moderated by Ali Velshi and Christine Romans, hosts of "Your $$$$$." The panel guests will include Concord Coalition President Peter Peterson, former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker, former Office of Management and Budget Director Alice Rivlin, and former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley. 

The program will be shown Saturday, January 10, 2009 at 2:00 PM EST and Sunday, January 11, 2009 at 3:00 PM EST.

For those of you whose football team missed the NFL playoffs (like my Tampa Bay Bucs) and enjoy winners (like my Florida Gators and this documentary film), this should be worthwhile television.

--Josh Gordon

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Congratulations to President-Elect Obama
Wednesday, November 5, 2008 - 1:30 PM

The Concord Coalition congratulates Barack Obama on his victory in the presidential election. As we detailed in a recent issue brief, the challenges he faces are formidable. Let's hope that after a campaign lasting nearly two years, politicians, the public and the media will now turn to the crucial business of governing. On fiscal policy, it will help to suspend partisan preconceptions and focus instead on practical problem solving. Inevitably, there will be differences on the appropriate level of spending, taxes, and debt. However, these differences should be engaged in a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect with a healthy dose of fact-based analysis.

Three issues stand out: the economic downturn, the financial sector crisis and the federal budget's long-term unsustainability. While there are linkages among these issues--most specifically the debt increase all three portend--they represent different ailments and should thus be treated with different remedies. The Obama Administration will need to calibrate fiscal policy to accommodate these differences. Short-term stimulus need not and should not increase the long-term structural deficit, just as reducing the long-term...

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Welcome to "The Tabulation" Concord's New Blog
Thursday, October 16, 2008 - 5:48 PM

On behalf of the staff here at The Concord Coalition, let me welcome you to our new blog. We hope this blog will provide a forum for us to bring you the latest news about Concord, highlight our fiscal policy positions, and report from the field. The last item is the one we felt our new website was most lacking, so we are hoping the blog will give us the opportunity to inform the public around the country what our field staff does and also what the citizens we encounter when we go around the country talking to schools, civic groups, and other community gatherings are most worried about when they think of the fiscal future and the importance of generationally responsible fiscal policy.

I want to thank our Chief Economist, Diane Lim Rogers, for keeping the seat warm here with her blog "EconomistMom.com" while we have worked on getting our new website up and running. She will continue her prolific blogging there, and will also be lending a hand here with posts highlighting her unique take on fiscal policy.

Many of you might wonder how we came up with the name for our blog and why we prominently feature a picture of an outdated soda can. For those of you who have seen the movie I.O.U.S.A. you probably already know that Concord...

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