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Doug Elmendorf Unleashed

Now that Doug Elmendorf is no longer director of the Congressional Budget Office, he’s speaking his mind…

For his six years as director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Doug Elmendorf’s job was to provide Congress with objective, nonpartisan analysis. He did not tell Congress what to do about critical economic issues.

But that’s changing. Doug Elmendorf is no longer the director of the CBO—so he’s speaking out. In a new video series, Elmendorf, a visiting fellow in Economic Studies at Brookings, offers short answers to questions about the federal budget, tax reform, inequality and other current economic debates.

1.

Are deficits and debt today’s biggest economic problems?

2.

How much should we worry about the federal deficit and debt?

3.

What’s driving up the federal debt?

4.

Who should bear the burden of changes to spending and taxes in the U.S.?

5.

Why is the politics of putting the federal budget on a sustainable path so difficult?

6.

How can government help kids move out of poverty?

7.

How should the government deal with climate change?

8.

What policies will increase the pace of U.S. economic growth?

9.

Is the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) working?

10.

How much can tax reform boost the pace of economic growth?

11.

Why Does Congress seem so dysfunctional?

12.

What should be the next president’s top economic priority?