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Long-Term Fiscal Issues: Increasing Transparency and Reexamining the Base of the Federal Budget

GAO-05-317T Published: Feb 08, 2005. Publicly Released: Feb 08, 2005.
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Highlights

This testimony discusses the nation's long-term fiscal outlook and the challenge it poses for the budget and oversight processes. First, GAO provides results of its most recent simulations of the long-term fiscal outlook, updating a model GAO initially developed in 1992. GAO also discusses some ideas for increasing transparency of the long-term costs of government commitments and the range of fiscal exposures. Finally, GAO discusses a forthcoming report that it believes will help the Congress in dealing with a range of performance and accountability issues. This report will provide policy makers with a comprehensive compendium of those areas throughout government that could be considered ripe for reexamination and review based on GAO's past work and institutional knowledge.

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Budget deficitData collectionEconomic analysisEconomic policiesFinancial analysisFinancial managementFiscal policiesFuture budget projectionsMedicaidStrategic planningInstitutional knowledge