An effective marginal tax rate (ETR) measures an investor’s tax burden on returns from an investment. CBO estimates that the ETR, on average, for all capital income is 18 percent. ETRs on returns from investment vary by sector, ranging from 29 percent for businesses to virtually zero for...

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is a federal program administered by states that provides cash assistance, work support, and other services to some low-income families. This report examines spending on TANF, how TANF compares to other federal programs for low-income families, and...

Loan guarantees made in the Federal Housing Administration's single-family mortgage program between 1992 and 2013 are now projected to generate small costs over their lifetimes rather than the significant savings that were recorded in the federal budget at the time the guarantees were made. That...

The unemployment rate has been high by historical standards (over 8 percent) for several years, and over 40 percent of the unemployed have been looking for work for more than six months.

CBO estimates that the development of shale resources will increase GDP by about two-thirds of 1 percent in 2020 and about 1 percent in 2040, and that the increases in GDP will lead to slightly larger percentage increases in federal revenues. The effect of shale development on domestic energy...

CBO estimates the Administration’s plans for nuclear forces would cost $348 billion for the Departments of Defense and Energy for 2015–2024, a figure close to its 2013 estimate of $355 billion for the 2014–2023 period. Although those 10-year totals are similar, CBO projects DoD’s costs...

The federal government influences innovation through two broad channels: spending and tax policies, and the legal and regulatory systems. Policymakers could spur additional innovation by increasing funding for federal programs that support research and development, increasing funding on...

CBO projects that the Department of Defense’s plans would cost an average of $47 billion per year more from 2015 through 2021 than would be provided under the limits established by the Budget Control Act. CBO’s estimate of costs for that period is $17 billion per year higher than DoD’s...

The Department of Defense's (DoD's) base budget increased by 31 percent (adjusted for inflation) between 2000 and 2014, mainly because of higher costs for military personnel and operation and maintenance. Adjusted to exclude inflation, funding for military personnel grew by 46 percent despite a...

Because higher-income households receive a much greater share of the nation’s before-tax income and pay higher average federal tax rates on that income, they pay much more in federal taxes than lower-income households do. In 2011, households in the top quintile received 52 percent of...