Site Map 
compiled by Christopher Chantrill Follow chrischantrill on Twitter

 

        Contact

a usgovernmentspending.com briefing:

smaller text  bigger text    print view

US Federal Government Long-term Spending Outlook



Since the mid 1990s the Congressional Budget Office has prepared an occasional long-term outlook for the finances of the federal government. This brief presents the latest CBO Long-Term Outlook, released in June 2011.

Federal Government Spending: the Long-term Outlook

Medicare and Medicaid are going to eat the budget.

Chart 2.91: CBO Estimate - Federal Spending

The CBO Long-term Outlook projects the trends in the major federal spending programs, based on current program rules, and projects the likely spending out to 2084.

The outlook is fairly clear. Social Security will expand from a spending level of about 5 percent of GDP today to about 6 percent by 2050.

But Medicare and Medicaid, the two big federal health care programs, will expand from about 6 percent at present to over 12 percent of GDP by 2050.

The CBO assumes that other programs, including interest on the national debt, will decrease due to the pressure of health care spending from the current 12 percent of GDP to 7.5 percent of GDP by 2050.


There’s More...

usgovernmentspending.com. Where you go to get facts about government.

Prepared by Christopher Chantrill.
email: chrischantrill@gmail.com

Site Search

Win Cash for Bugs

File a valid bug report and get a $5 Amazon Gift Certificate.

Next Data Update

> State and Local Finances FY10

> data update schedule.

US GDP for 2011 Updated

On April 25, 2012, usgovernmentspending.com updated its GDP series with the latest data from measuringworth.com, including nominal GDP for calendar 2011 of $15.094 trillion and a real GDP in 2005 dollars for calendar 2011 of $13.315 trillion.

Usgovernmentspending.com uses measuringworth.com as its GDP source because the data series for nominal and real GDP go back to 1790.

Spend links

us numbersus budgetcustom chartdeficit/gdpspend/gdpdebt/gdpus gdpus real gdpstate gdpbreakdownfederalstatelocal200920102011californiatexas

Masthead

usgovernmentspending.com was designed and executed by:

Christopher Chantrill.

Email here.


Education

“We have met with families in which for weeks together, not an article of sustenance but potatoes had been used; yet for every child the hard-earned sum was provided to send them to school.”
E. G. West, Education and the State

presented by Christopher Chantrill
Data Sources  •  Contact