Tag Archives: fiscal future

Resources to Inform a Fiscal Future from the National Academy of Sciences

The plan offered by the President’s bipartisan deficit commission, released last Wednesday, has drawn reaction across the political spectrum.

Want to better understand how consistent this plan is with long-term fiscal stability? We provide a practical framework to assess budget proposals like this in Choosing the Nation’s Fiscal Future, a report released in January 2010 by the National Research Council together with the National Academy of Public Administration. This report also features four representative scenarios that illustrate a wide range of available policy choices to put the nation on a path toward a stable fiscal future. Which one would you choose?

And for insight into how we can stay economically competitive in the global economy, don’t miss our new report Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5. Science plays a vital role in our nation’s fiscal future. Read the report for actionable recommendations for funding research, improving science and mathematics education, and changing the nation’s tax, patent, immigration and litigation policies.

Links to these books and other National Academies reports that may also interest you are listed below.

Choosing the Nation's Fiscal Future Choosing the Nation’s Fiscal Future

A mismatch between the federal government’s revenues and spending, now and in the foreseeable future, requires heavy borrowing, leading to a large and increasing federal debt. That increasing debt raises a serious challenge to all of the goals that various…
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Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5

In the face of so many daunting near-term challenges, U.S. government and industry are letting the crucial strategic issues of U.S. competitiveness slip below the surface. Five years ago, the National Academies prepared Rising Above the Gathering…
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Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads

In order for the United States to maintain the global leadership and competitiveness in science and technology that are critical to achieving national goals, we must invest in research, encourage innovation, and grow a strong and talented science and…
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Rising Above the Gathering Storm Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future

In a world where advanced knowledge is widespread and low-cost labor is readily available, U.S. advantages in the marketplace and in science and technology have begun to erode. A comprehensive and coordinated federal effort is urgently needed to bolster U.S….
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New Publications: The Nation’s Fiscal Future, Hepatitis, Biofuels, And More

This week’s featured publication is Wednesday’s launch of Choosing The Nation’s Fiscal Future. You can read the full press release, watch the press briefing, or go to the Our Fiscal Future website.

We’re also getting a lot of attention for the newly-released report Hepatitis and Liver Cancer: A National Strategy for Prevention and Control of Hepatitis B and C. Both of these reports are available as a free PDF download, and, as with almost all of our publications, they’re available to read in their entirety for free online.

Featured Publication

Choosing the Nation’s Fiscal Future (final)

A mismatch between the federal government’s revenues and spending, now and in the foreseeable future, requires heavy borrowing, leading to a large and increasing federal debt. That increasing debt raises a serious challenge to all of the goals that various people expect their government to pursue. It also raises questions about the nation’s future wealth and whether too much debt could lead to higher interest rates and even to loss of confidence in the nation’s long-term ability and commitment to honor its obligations. Many analysts have concluded that the trajectory of the federal budget set by current policies cannot be sustained.

In light of these projections, Choosing the Nation’s Fiscal Future assesses the options and possibilities for a sustainable federal budget. This comprehensive book considers a range of policy changes that could help put the budget on a sustainable path: reforms to reduce the rate of growth in spending for Medicare and Medicaid; options to reduce the growth rate of Social Security benefits or raise payroll taxes; and changes in many other government spending programs and tax policies. The book also examines how the federal budget process could be revised to be more far sighted and to hold leaders accountable for responsible stewardship of the nation’s fiscal future.

Choosing the Nation’s Fiscal Future will provide readers with a practical framework to assess budget proposals for their consistency with long-term fiscal stability. It will help them assess what policy changes they want, consistent with their own values and their views of the proper role of the government and within the constraints of a responsible national budget. It will show how the perhaps difficult but possible policy changes could be combined to produce a wide range of budget scenarios to bring revenues and spending into alignment for the long term. This book will be uniquely valuable to everyone concerned about the current and projected fiscal health of the nation.

This Week’s New Publications

Hepatitis and Liver Cancer: A National Strategy for Prevention and Control of Hepatitis B and C (prepublication)

Expanding Biofuel Production: Sustainability and the Transition to Advanced Biofuels: Summary of a Workshop (prepublication)

Report of a Workshop on The Scope and Nature of Computational Thinking (prepublication)

Persistent Forecasting of Disruptive Technologies (final)

Global Sources of Local Pollution: An Assessment of Long-Range Transport of Key Air Pollutants to and from the United States (final)

Responsible Research with Biological Select Agents and Toxins (final)

A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy Special Report 299 (final)