Facing The Future

This week on Facing the Future, former Obama and Clinton economic advisor Jason Furman talks about the economic fallout from the war in Iran and the importance of putting the debt on a sustainable path.

This week on Facing the Future, Douglas Holtz-Eakin of the American Action Forum and former director of the Congressional Budget Office discusses the economy, potential war costs and how the rapid growth of U.S. debt is already having a negative effect on the economy and living standards.

This week on Facing the Future, Marc Goldwein, Senior Vice President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, outlines a "break glass in case of emergency" plan for the next economic shock.

This week on Facing the Future, we'll look at the potential cost of U.S. military operations in Iran, the President's State of the Union Address and our upcoming road trip to New Hampshire and Maine.

This week on Facing the Future we discussed the latest budget and economic projections from the Congressional Budget Office with the agency's director Dr. Phillip Swagel. He describes why the national debt is headed for record territory and the fiscal fallout from the Supreme Court's decision to invalidate some of the President's tariffs.

This week on Facing the Future Wendell Primus, Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former Senior Policy Advisor to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, described his plan to keep the Social Security trust fund from becoming insolvent as soon as 2032. Some political pain will be required.

This week on Facing the Future, former Comptroller General of the United States and CEO of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) David Walker discussed his efforts to sound the alarm on the dangers of rising debt and unsustainable government commitments.

This week on Facing the Future, Romina Boccia, director of budget and entitlement policy at the Cato Institute, explained the economic dangers of ignoring the nation's spiraling debt and suggested some Social Security and Medicare reforms that would help.  

This week on Facing the Future, former Ambassador to Denmark Richard Swett discusses a way forward on U.S. interests in Greenland and Alex Durante, senior economist at the Tax Foundation, evaluates the impact of President Trump's tariff agenda.

This week on Facing the Future we examined developments on the national security front with Michael O’Hanlon, senior fellow and director of research in Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution and author of a timely new book called  “To Dare Mighty Things: U.S. Defense Strategy Since the Revolution”  

This week on Facing the Future, former Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) discussed the growing U.S. debt burden, the case for a fiscal commission, and why it's bad policy to attack the Fed's independence.

This week on Facing the Future, we discussed Social Security reform with Jason Fichtner, executive director of the LIMRA Retirement Income Institute and former chief economist at the Social Security Administration. With the program's main trust fund projected to be depleted by 2032, prompt action must be taken to avoid sudden benefit cuts.

This week on Facing the Future, Concord Coalition executive director Carolyn Bourdeaux and other top members of Concord's staff look back on key fiscal developments of 2025 and the deepening debt challenges of 2026. Join us for Facing the Future's holiday 'Friends and Family' episode.

This week on Facing the Future we’ll look at Medicare, one of the biggest drivers of America’s long-term fiscal outlook. Amy Bassano, a former deputy director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) and now Managing Director of Medicare services at Health Management Associates, discusses cost trends and reform options.

This week on Facing the Future, Leon Panetta, one of Washington's most experienced budget experts and a top national security official, gives us his view on what it will take to restore fiscal discipline and why achieving that goal is crucial.   

This week on Facing the Future, we'll check in on the economy and the bond market with Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. She recently wrote a paper for the Peter G. Peterson Foundation titled, “Welcome to the New Era of U.S. Debt Where the Bond Market is King.”

This week on Facing the Future, we look at the daunting agenda facing Congress after passing a budget deal to temporarily reopen the government. Our guest is Ben Ritz, Vice President of Policy Development at the Progressive Policy Institute.    

This week on Facing the Future, Peter Fisher, Distinguished Senior Fellow at the MIT Golub Center for Finance and Policy, describes the potential consequences of America's “untethered fiscal policy” and the risks of hyperinflation or default on the debt.

This week on Facing the Future, we looked at the major impact of health care spending on the federal budget with Anna Bonelli, Director of Health Policy at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. The discussion included expiring enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Medicare insolvency and Medicare Advantage overpayments.

This week on Facing the Future, we focused on tax policy with Howard Gleckman, non-resident fellow at the Urban Institute and the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. He explained his recent column, "What The Ugly History of Tax Policy Over The Past Four Decades Means For The Future."