An economic downturn can dramatically impact Social Security’s short-run finances, accelerating depletion of reserves in the program’s trust funds. In this issue brief, we run four stress tests to illustrate how the retirement and disability trust funds would fare under several possible versions of the current recession. Before the pandemic, Social Security’s Trustees projected … [Read more...] about How Will COVID-19 Affect the Social Security Trust Funds?
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Congressional Budget Office’s 2020 Long-Term Projections for Social Security
Each year, the Congressional Budget Office publishes a report presenting its projections of what federal deficits, debt, spending, and revenues would be for the next 30 years if current laws governing taxes and spending generally did not change. This report is the latest in the series. Deficits Even after the effects of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic fade, deficits in coming … [Read more...] about Congressional Budget Office’s 2020 Long-Term Projections for Social Security
Social Security: What Would Happen If the Trust Funds Ran Out?
Under their intermediate assumptions and under current law, the Social Security trustees project that the OASI trust fund will become depleted in 2034 and the DI trust fund will become depleted in 2065. Although the two funds are legally separate, they are often considered in combination. The trustees project that the combined Social Security trust funds will become depleted … [Read more...] about Social Security: What Would Happen If the Trust Funds Ran Out?
Projecting COVID’s Fiscal Impact
The current economic crisis and response has dramatically expanded federal deficits. While this borrowing is largely necessary and desirable to combat the effects of the pandemic and resulting recession, it will lead to a permanent increase in the national debt. Committee senior vice president and senior policy director Marc Goldwein presented the Committee’s budget … [Read more...] about Projecting COVID’s Fiscal Impact
The Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Social Security’s Finances
The coronavirus pandemic has had human and economic costs, with nearly 100,000 total deaths in the United States and more than 36 million new claims for unemployment benefits. The pandemic and policy responses to it will have long-term consequences for the federal budget and economy. The annual Social Security Trustees Report, released on April 22, 2020 relied on a pre-pandemic … [Read more...] about The Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Social Security’s Finances