Economy

The federal debt limit restricts the total amount of money the Treasury Department can legally borrow. In recent years, the debt limit has become a political flashpoint and the government has frequently been forced to rely on accounting maneuvers called “extraordinary measures” to meet its financial obligations. But those measures are limited and temporary. The date on which they are exhausted and the Treasury Department’s cash-on-hand runs out is called the “X Date.” BPC is the only group outside government that consistently projects when this “X Date” will arrive and the government will default on its obligations. This projection relies on publicly-available information and historic trends in government revenues and outlays.

Funding Our Future is an alliance of organizations dedicated to making a secure retirement possible for all Americans. The alliance informs the public about the barriers to retirement security and calls on policymakers to make strengthening retirement policies a top priority.

The COVID-19 pandemic is focusing overdue attention on economic inequity and public health disparities. Our nation faces hard times ahead but can emerge from this crisis with an economy that is more dynamic, fair, and secure. The Bipartisan Policy Center is developing politically viable solutions that confront barriers to shared prosperity and advance opportunity and resiliency for American workers.

BPC’s paid family leave effort is committed to developing a policy roadmap for bipartisan, common-sense solutions that support America’s working families and promote America’s economic success. Americans overwhelmingly support the idea of paid family leave, whether to care for a new child, one’s own illness, or a sick family member. Republicans and Democrats have come a long way toward finding agreement on this issue, but Congress has yet to turn that growing consensus into actionable, bipartisan policy. BPC’s Task Force on Paid Family Leave seeks to take that next step.

Too many American households face uncertain prospects when it comes to their financial security in retirement. Many individuals lack access to a simple method of saving through their place of work. Of those who do have access, many are not contributing enough and are at risk for outliving their savings. As a result, millions of Americans are approaching retirement with inadequate funds to maintain their standards of living. BPC’s work on retirement security focuses on policies that expand access to well-designed retirement savings vehicles, help Americans preserve their retirement income, and resolve Social Security’s structural imbalance to avoid harmful and abrupt benefit cuts when the program’s trust fund is depleted.

The financial system serves a critical role in allocating capital, facilitating payments, and managing risks in the economy. The American economy is served best when the financial system is robust, resilient, and effective. Financial regulation, the rise of AI, and reference rate reform are bringing new challenges to the forefront. BPC believes that managing and properly addressing these challenges will be critical to promoting a financial system that best serves Main Street businesses and consumers.

The federal government is on a path toward trillion-dollar budget deficits, with total debt held by the public heading into uncharted waters. This worrying trend has continued during the longest period of economic expansion in modern American history. If left unchecked, the nation’s fiscal path could burden future generations through massive interest payments on the debt or even a fiscal crisis. BPC continues to sound the alarm on the unsustainable debt and the budget while developing bipartisan solutions for fiscal sustainability.