U.S. policy changes and more optimistic fiscal forecasts have significantly improved the long-term fiscal prospects of the country. Nevertheless, these prospects remain dismal. Unless U.S. fiscal policy changes by a lot and very soon, our descendants will face rates of lifetime net taxation that...

An alternative to deficit accounting is proposed for understanding the government's treatment of current and future generations. The alternative, called generational accounting, is based on the government's intertemporal budget constraint. Generational accounting is used to describe the...