Facing the Future
320 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago - ★★★★★ - 9 ratingsHow the nation’s fiscal and economic challenges, and possible solutions, impact current and future generations.
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Episodes
How Much Does the U.S. Government Lose in Fraud?
April 25, 2024 20:16 - 44 minutes - 61.6 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we'll discuss a new report on fraud by the Government Accountability Office, along with a review of the foreign aid spending bill and the latest news on the economy.
Students Rise to the Fiscal Challenge
April 18, 2024 14:02 - 44 minutes - 61.4 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we'll get some policy ideas from three college students who recently took part in an annual Fiscal Challenge competition where teams from around the country devise and defend their own plans for putting the federal budget on a sustainable path. Dr. Mike Aguilar, founder and president of the Fiscal Challenge also joined the discussion.
The 2025 Tax Blob
April 12, 2024 15:15 - 44 minutes - 61.6 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we'll look at what happens at the end of 2025 when many of the tax cuts enacted in 2017 are scheduled to expire. What should Congress be doing to prepare for this fiscal cliff? How much would it cost to extend the tax cuts? Are there viable options to offset the revenue loss? We’ll get some perspectives on all these questions from Marc Goldwein of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Rhetoric and Reality of Taxing the Rich
April 09, 2024 17:28 - 45 minutes - 62.5 MBThis week on Facing the Future, Concord Coalition Chief Economist Steve Robinson discusses his new issue brief, "The Rhetoric and Reality of Taxing the Rich." Then we'll talk with Eugene Steuerle of the Urban Institute about his new column explaining that "Major Budget Reform Must Accommodate Legislators' Need to Give Money Away."
The Economics of Immigration
March 28, 2024 20:26 - 44 minutes - 61 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we'll look at the economics of immigration reform with Teresa Cardinal Brown, Senior Advisor for Immigration and Border Policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. With the U.S on track to have more deaths than births by 2040, immigration is an increasingly necessary component for a growing economy. Is there a way forward on bipartisan reform?
A Democrat's Case for Fiscal Responsibility
March 20, 2024 17:14 - 44 minutes - 61.7 MBThis week on Facing the Future we hear from Zach Moller, director of the economic program at Third Way, a center-left think tank. He'll discuss his recent report called, "A Democratic Case for Fiscal Responsibility." We'll also look at the latest numbers on jobs and inflation.
Pros and Cons of the Biden Budget
March 15, 2024 16:57 - 44 minutes - 61.8 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we look at President Biden's new budget. It has a plausible deficit reduction path but are the policies used to get there plausible as well? Our guests are Josh Gordon of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and Brian Riedl of the Manhattan Institute.
What to Look for in Biden's Budget
March 07, 2024 18:03 - 43 minutes - 59.7 MBThis week on Facing the Future our in-house panel of experts, policy director Tori Gorman and chief economist Steve Robinson, will preview the president’s State of the Union Address, scheduled for Thursday, March 7, and the president’s budget submission, scheduled for Monday, March 11.
Budget Politics Risk a Shutdown (Again)
February 28, 2024 21:59 - 44 minutes - 61.8 MBThis week on Facing the Future we’ll talk about the long drawn-out Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations process in Washington, which may be finally wrapping up in the next two weeks — or maybe not. With a partial shutdown looming on March 1st, we'll talk to Bill Hoagland, Senior Vice President of the Bipartisan Policy Center and former Republican staff director of the Senate Budget Committee.
Monetary Policy at a Crossroads
February 21, 2024 20:00 - 44 minutes - 61.8 MBThis week on Facing the Future we'll examine how policies of the Federal Reserve Board affect the economy and the budget. Did the Fed's "quantitative easing" go too far and last too long? Our guest is Thomas Hoenig, former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and a member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) from 1991 to 2011.
CBO - U.S. Fiscal Path is Unsustainable
February 15, 2024 14:49 - 43 minutes - 60.3 MBThis week on Facing the Future, our guest was Dr. Phillip Swagel, Director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The CBO just released its Budget and Economic Outlook for 2024-2034. Spoiler alert: It's not great news.
January Jobs Jolt
February 08, 2024 14:36 - 43 minutes - 60.1 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we’ll look at the latest economic numbers with a focus on jobs, wages and interest rates. The January jobs report showed a very robust, and surprising, gain of 353,000 jobs, up from 333,000 in December. Gordon Gray, Vice President for Economic Policy at the American Action Forum will give us his take on what it means.
Biden's Dubious Tax Pledge
January 31, 2024 21:10 - 43 minutes - 60.1 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we’ll take a close look at President Biden’s pledge not to raise taxes on households with annual income below $400,000. Our guest is Ben Ritz, Director of the Center for Funding America’s Future at the Progressive Policy Institute. Ritz explains why that pledge is difficult to implement and how it undermines policymaking.
A Bipartisan Tax Bill Takes Shape
January 24, 2024 20:00 - 44 minutes - 61.7 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we’ll look at the congressional tax agenda, both in the next few weeks and into 2025 when a number of provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) are set to expire at the end of the year. Our guide through the congressional tax thicket is Rohit Kumar, Co-Leader of Washington National Tax Services at PricewaterhouseCoopers and a former Deputy Chief of Staff to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
Looming Fiscal Cliffs in 2025 and Beyond
January 17, 2024 20:00 - 45 minutes - 61.9 MBThis week on Facing the Future, our guest is Rachel Snyderman, Director of Economic Policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. We’ll ask her about the fiscal challenges awaiting the winner of the 2024 presidential election and the more immediate challenge of finally passing the Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations bills – something that is now four months overdue.
Consequences of a Broken Budget Process
January 11, 2024 02:21 - 44 minutes - 61.7 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we talked with Molly Reynolds, Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, about the breakdown of the congressional budget process. With another partial shutdown looming on January 19, we discussed why Congress never passes its annual appropriations bills on time, the problems this creates and whether there are any remedies.
Fiscal Challenges for the Next Administration
January 03, 2024 20:00 - 44 minutes - 61.6 MBFiscal Challenges for the Next Administration
The 2023 Fiscal Review: Running in Place
December 27, 2023 20:00 - 44 minutes - 61.4 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we looked back on budget and economic policy in 2023, which was mostly about avoiding crises, and where things stand heading into 2024. Our discussion featured a panel of Concord Coalition experts, including policy director Tori Gorman, chief economist Steve Robinson, national field director Phil Smith, deputy director Chris Colligan, and media and policy intern Kyle Duffy.
The Fed Pivots With a Soft landing in Sight
December 20, 2023 20:34 - 44 minutes - 61 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we’ll focus on the latest economic projections from the Federal Reserve Board. Their last meeting, which concluded on December 13, certainly made some news with the projection that the Fed might actually begin to reduce interest rates in 2024. To guide us through the economic news, our guest this week is Robert Carroll, Co-leader of the EY’s Quantitative Economics and Statistics (QUEST) group. Concord Coalition policy director Tori Gorman and chief economist S...
A Tax Case That Could Upend the Code
December 13, 2023 19:37 - 41 minutes - 95.2 MBThis week, on Facing the Future, we began with a review of the oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in Moore vs. United States, a case that could have a big effect on federal government revenues. Our guest was Steven Rosenthal, Senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. Then, Tori Goman, Steve Robinson and I looked at some new numbers on U.S. life expectancy and whether there may be a glimmer of hope that a government shutdown can be avoided in January.
Storm Clouds on the Economic Horizon
December 06, 2023 22:49 - 44 minutes - 61.3 MBThis week on Facing the Future we got an update on the latest inflation and economic growth numbers from Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President of the American Action Forum and former Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Despite some encouraging short-term numbers, Holtz-Eakin sees a few warning signs for 2024. We also discussed his new issue brief on employment-based immigration.
Conrad and Portman Push for a Bipartisan Fiscal Commission
November 29, 2023 16:54 - 44 minutes - 61.5 MBThis week on Facing the Future our guests were former U.S. Senators, Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Rob Portman (R-OH). They have been lending their voices to the push for a new bipartisan fiscal commission that would propose solutions to our nation’s unsustainable budget outlook. Conrad chaired the Senate Budget Committee from 2001 to 2003, and again from 2007 to 2013. Portman served as Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under President George W. Bush.
An Alarming Population Projection and Taxes as a Sleeper Issue
November 24, 2023 19:39 - 44 minutes - 61.6 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we’ll do a round-up of topics including new Census Bureau population projections, the road ahead for FY 2024 appropriations following passage of a new CR (continuing resolution) and a case now before the U.S. Supreme Court, Moore v. United States, that could have a big effect on federal government revenues. Concord Coalition policy director Tori Gorman and chief economist Steve Robinson join the conversation.
Strategies for Fiscal Sustainability in a Divided Congress
November 16, 2023 13:35 - 45 minutes - 61.8 MBThis week on Facing the Future we heard from three members of Congress who took part in a virtual discussion on November 13 titled, “Working Toward a Sustainable Fiscal Future in a Divided Congress.” The three congressmen, Don Bacon (R-NE), Jared Golden (D-ME), and Scott Peters (D-CA) were recipients of The Concord Coalition’s 2023 Economic Patriot Award, which is given for efforts to bring about a more fiscally sustainable path for future generations.
Is COVID Coming Home for the Holidays?
November 08, 2023 16:03 - 44 minutes - 61.8 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we’ll get an update on COVID-19 as we enter another holiday travel season. Our guest is Dr. Jodie Guest, an epidemiologist and professor at Emory University in Atlanta who also serves as an advisor to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Then, we’ll switch gears to discuss the latest developments on the economic front, such as the Fed’s decision to hold rates steady for now and the “Goldilocks” October jobs report.
New Speaker. Same Problem.
November 02, 2023 20:23 - 43 minutes - 60 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we begin with a status check on the stalled appropriations process on Capitol Hill now that a new Speaker of the House has been selected by the Republican caucus. Our guest for that segment is Tom Kahn who served as Democratic House Budget Committee staff director from 1997 to 2016. He now teaches budget policy at American University in Washington. Then we’ll talk with Richard Coffin, Chief of Research and Advocacy at USA Facts, a nonprofit, nonpartisan civic ...
Deficit Ballooned in Fiscal Year 2023
October 26, 2023 00:33 - 44 minutes - 61.6 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we looked at the final federal budget numbers for Fiscal Year 2023 and why the deficit shot up. Then we discussed President Biden’s $106 billion supplemental spending request for Ukraine, Israel and other international priorities. And finally, we heard from Brian Riedl of the Manhattan Institute and Marc Goldwein of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget on the threat of rising interest rates and the prospects for a new fiscal commission.
Congress Should Reclaim Its Power of the Purse
October 20, 2023 15:01 - 44 minutes - 61.6 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we talk with former Congressman and Ambassador Richard Swett about the work he’s been doing with a Princeton University initiative on restoring the Constitutional powers of Congress. Swett serves on a subcommittee dealing with the power of the purse, something of great interest to The Concord Coalition. Then, we’ll get Swett’s perspectives on how security challenges in Israel and Ukraine might play out.
Congress Again Kicks the Can on Funding Bills
October 13, 2023 15:14 - 45 minutes - 61.9 MBThis week on Facing the Future we’ll look at how Congress avoided a government shutdown on September 30 and whether they’ll be able to do it again by November 17 when the short-term deal they reached comes to an end. Then we'll look at the latest economic numbers and consider what they mean for the federal budget. Concord Coalition policy director Tori Gorman and chief economist Steve Robinson join me for the discussion.
A Fiscal Policy Day of Reckoning
October 05, 2023 16:44 - 44 minutes - 61.6 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we look at the “day of reckoning” that our guest Eugene Steurele of the Urban Institute, says is coming for U.S. fiscal policy. And we’ll also get Steuerle's take on why the budget is, and has been, transferring resources from America’s youth to richer, older generations. Concord Coalition policy director Tori Gorman and chief economist Steve Robinson join the conversation.
What’s Up With Swing Voters?
September 28, 2023 16:48 - 45 minutes - 62.2 MBThis week on Facing the Future we talk with Rich Thau, President of Engagious, a leading firm in scientifically testing and refining the effectiveness of business and issue-advocacy content. The firm has been conducting a series of focus groups across the country with people who voted for Trump in 2016 and for Biden in 2020. What these key voters have to say will help determine who wins the 2024 presidential race. Then, we'll get the latest from Capitol Hill on whether Congress can avoid a s...
Why Can’t Congress Get It’s Work Done?
September 21, 2023 13:56 - 44 minutes - 61.8 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we examine the possibility of a government shutdown. If Congress fails to agree on funding levels for the next fiscal year, which begins on October 1st, many government offices will need to close their doors. With less than two weeks to go, negotiators seem far apart and it's not just Democrats vs Republicans. Division among House Republicans has also been a problem. We discuss the state of play with Jon Lieber, managing director of the Eurasia Group and a for...
Questions the Candidates Need to Answer
September 14, 2023 16:32 - 45 minutes - 61.8 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we look at some key questions about the federal budget that voters should ask candidates in the 2024 election cycle. With The federal budget deficit rising again and our national debt already on an unsustainable long-term trajectory, voters should expect candidates to explain how they intend to deal with the huge challenges that lie ahead. Spoiler alert: It goes beyond cutting mere "waste, fraud, and abuse."
Is It Time for a New, Bipartisan Fiscal Commission?
September 07, 2023 13:40 - 44 minutes - 61.6 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we talk to Romina Boccia, Director of Budget and Entitlement Policy for the CATO Institute. Boccia argues in a recent piece that it is time for a new bipartisan commission to take a broad look at the serious fiscal challenges the federal government faces and propose some solutions that would become law directly unless Congress opts out of any of the proposals. This would include everything from how to reduce massive government healthcare spending to raising ne...
New Hampshire State Budget Challenges Mirror Those in Washington
August 30, 2023 19:10 - 44 minutes - 61.7 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we catch up with Phill Sletten, research director of the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute, a Concord based nonpartisan state budget think tank. Phil walks us through the current state budget snapshot and talks about some of the short and long-term economic challenges facing the Granite State. Though a smaller scale, many of New Hampshire's budgetary problems mirror our national fiscal challenges at the federal level. Plus, we hear from Concord Coalition c...
Ben Ritz: Recent US Credit Rating Downgrade Should Be a Wakeup Call
August 23, 2023 18:09 - 44 minutes - 61.8 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we hear from Ben Ritz, Director of the Center for Growing America's Future at the Progressive Policy Institute, and one of our more frequent show contributors. Ben has written several interesting pieces including one where he asserts that the Fitch rating agency's recent downgrade of the federal government's credit rating should be a wakeup call for all those concerned about the budget and our national debt - even if the downgrade itself was not warranted. So ...
Happy 88th Birthday Social Security! Can We Save You?
August 16, 2023 12:43 - 44 minutes - 61.8 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we mark the 88th birthday of Social Security, the benefit program that is a real lifeline for seniors and the disabled. Social Security is now in serious fiscal trouble and its Trust Funds may become insolvent just within the next few years. So we looked back at the history of the program as well as into the future at possible solutions to save Social Security with two experts: Concord Coalition chief economist Steve Robinson, and Dr. Charles Blahous, senior r...
Will We Learn the Necessary Lessons From Past Economic Crises
August 08, 2023 15:08 - 44 minutes - 61.7 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we revisit a conversation from earlier this year with Alex Pollock and Howard Adler, authors of a new book entitled "Surprised Again: The COVID Crisis and the New Market Bubble." The book examines the recent economic crises, including the COVID related economic shutdown and the Great Recession of 2008-10, and asks why these types of events always seem to take us by surprise. Though inflation has come down somewhat from its peak in the last year, it is still a ...
Congress Leaves Town as the Risk of a Federal Government Shutdown Grows
August 02, 2023 15:02 - 44 minutes - 61.8 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we turn once again to the expertise of David Lerman, editor of CQ Budget Tracker, for a breakdown on the current breakdown in Congress when it comes to passing bills to fund the government. The clock is ticking towards the end of the current fiscal year on September 30th and if nothing is passed, the federal government would go into a partial shutdown. The Senate has passed all 12 appropriations bills out of committee with a strong bipartisan vote (for the fir...
US National Security Strategy and Its Impact on Defense Spending
July 26, 2023 15:16 - 44 minutes - 61.7 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we speak with Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution for an assessment of US national security strategy from Ukraine to China, the Arctic, and everything in between. And, what this means for future US defense spending, which is a significant part of the federal budget. O'Hanlon has served as an advisor to both the Defense Department and the CIA, and gives us a preview of his new paper assessing the Pentagon's budget needs relative to the global threats ...
Boys State Tackles the Federal Deficit, and Is a Government Shutdown Looming?
July 20, 2023 01:07 - 44 minutes - 61.6 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we get an update from Concord Coalition policy director Tori Gorman and chief economist Steve Robinson on the latest economic news plus the looming Congressional battle over appropriations bills for the next fiscal year. No agreement by the end of the current fiscal year on September 30th could force a partial government shutdown. Plus, we visit New Hampshire Boys State where a group of high school students were engaged in serious policy debates over how to re...
Graying is Paying: Our Aging Population’s Impact on the Budget and the Economy
July 13, 2023 13:16 - 44 minutes - 61.8 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we talk to Richard Jackson, President of the Global Aging Institute about the combined effects of declining fertility rates, longer life expectancy and the baby boomers entering retirement en masse on our federal budget and our economy. It means more spending on Medicare and Social Security, with a smaller working age population to pay into these safety net programs and sustain them. We will also catch up with Concord Coalition policy director Tori Gorman and ...
Cracks in America’s Fiscal Foundation
July 06, 2023 13:51 - 44 minutes - 61.8 MBThis week on Facing the Future, Concord Coalition policy director Tori Gorman joins us to analyze the long-term budget outlook recently released by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. It projects, among other things, a fast growing elderly population combined with declining birth rates and higher health care costs. All this leading to our national debt nearly doubling as a share of our economy over the next 30 years. Plus, we'll revisit our recent conversation about border climate a...
Former Georgia US Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux: The Art of State and Federal Budgeting
June 28, 2023 13:22 - 44 minutes - 61.7 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we are joined by the newest member of The Concord Coalition's Board of Directors, Dr. Carolyn Bourdeaux. Dr. Bourdeaux has extensive experience in public sector budgeting. During the Great Recession, she was director of the Georgia Senate Budget and Evaluation Office, where she worked with both parties to balance Georgia’s budget and get the state economy back on track. She brought this valuable budget and fiscal knowledge to Congress when she served as a mem...
A Bipartisan Plea for Action on America’s Debt Problem
June 21, 2023 15:17 - 44 minutes - 61.7 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we hear from two veterans of many Congressional budget battles, Democrat Tom Kahn, who teaches budget policy at American University, and Republican Bill Hoagland, the Senior Vice President of the Bipartisan Policy Center. They recently penned a joint op-ed in which they urge Americans to put pressure on their elected officials to make difficult compromises to address our long-term national debt, because neither party can do it alone.
A Mixed Bag of Economic Signals
June 14, 2023 14:23 - 44 minutes - 61.7 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we try to examine the mixed signals on the economic trends with a strong jobs report and inflation easing somewhat but key consumer price indicators still too high. For that, we turn to economist Robert Carroll with Ernst and Young, and then we get further analysis on that plus data from the Congressional Budget Office showing the federal budget deficit on the rise again after coming down the last couple of years from Concord Coalition policy director Tori Gor...
How Should the Federal Government Invest in Robust Economic Growth?
June 07, 2023 19:37 - 44 minutes - 61.7 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we hear from Diane Lim - the "Economist Mom" - who gives us some very interesting highlights from a recent Congressional Report she helped put together looking at how the federal government can invest in robust economic growth over the next decade or so. The bottom line: the government should invest more in young people and children to get more economically productive adults. Plus we examine the final score issued by the Congressional Budget Office for the bip...
Finally, A Debt Limit Deal. Can We Avoid the Crisis Next Time?
May 31, 2023 13:19 - 44 minutes - 61.6 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we get expert analysis from the Concord Coalition's policy director Tori Gorman and chief economist Steve Robinson on the debt limit deal struck between President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to avert a federal default. We also hear excerpts from a very interesting forum held last week with Harvard economist Jason Furman and Rohit Kumar of PricewaterhouseCoopers who both question the efficacy of even having a debt limit at all. Furman and Kumar were ...
Border Carbon Adjustments Gain Bipartisan Attention in Congress
May 24, 2023 14:29 - 44 minutes - 61.7 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we talk with Greg Bertelsen, CEO of the bipartisan Climate Leadership Council about so-called 'border carbon adjustments.' The concept is getting substantial interest in Congress from both Republicans and Democrats and would impose fees on imported goods whose production pumps a high amount of carbon smog into the atmosphere. It's meant to raise revenue, reduce carbon emissions, and improve the competitive standing of American manufacturers who run much cleane...
The Clock is Ticking on Debt Limit Negotiations
May 17, 2023 18:46 - 44 minutes - 61.6 MBThis week on Facing the Future, we turn to the Concord Coalition's veterans of Congress - policy director Tori Gorman and chief economist Steve Robinson - for up to the minute analysis on negotiations between President Biden and Congressional leaders over extending or suspending the nation's debt limit. The federal government may have only a few days or the next week to be able to pay all of its bills in full and on time before a default occurs if a deal cannot be reached. If no deal is rea...