The U.S. fiscal imbalance — the excess of what we expect to spend, including repayment of our debt, over what government expects to receive in revenue — is large and growing. And with politicians proposing large new expenditures, little is being done to rectify the country's fiscal health....

The concept of fiscal imbalance is familiar to economists but less so to policymakers, politicians, and the public. Yet understanding this concept is essential to rational discussion of government financial health. This paper provides a primer on government fiscal imbalance.The material is not...

Current U.S. fiscal policy, including the recently concluded “fiscal cliff” debt deal, is placing an enormous financial burden on today's children and on future generations in order to deliver government benefits to current middle-aged workers and their elders. Standard government accounting...