US Published National Debt
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The Truth
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Each Taxpayer's Share: $800,000
Financial State of the States 2019
Our tenth annual Financial State of the States report, a nationwide analysis of the most recent state government financial information.
Bill's Blog
Bill Bergman serves as TIA's Director of Research. He is responsible for managing TIA's federal project and State Data Lab's data base. Bergman spent 13 years as an economist and policy analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Financial Transparency Score 2019
Our new report that scores each state government based on how transparent they are to the public about their finances using best practices from the private sector.
Financial State of the Union
Read our newest report on the Financial State of the Union, which found that the financial condition of the U.S. government worsened by $3.9 trillion in 2018.
Data-Z (formerly State Data Lab)
Create your own chart with more than 700 data variables, including demographic, economic and financial at the federal, state, and city level.
GAO says federal trust fund bankruptcy crisis extends far beyond Social Security and Medicare
January 27, 2020
The Epoch Times
“The GAO’s new report is another warning sign that Social Security, Medicare, and other trust fund programs on which many Americans rely are in danger of going broke,” Enzi said Jan. 23 in releasing the Government Accounting Office (GAO) analysis. “Congress will need to work in a bipartisan manner to safeguard these programs to ensure they are able to provide for those who need them now, and in the future,” Enzi said in a statement accompanying the release.
‘Exit option’ complicates picture for Illinois pension reform
January 23, 2020
Daily Herald (Illinois)
Union opposition to proposed pension reforms have sparked a new wave of protests in France, a little more than a year after the onset of the "yellow vest" protest movement.
What good are new taxes if there’s no one here to pay them?
January 21, 2020
The News-Gazette (Illinois)
A Chicago financial watchdog group — Truth-in-Accounting — puts out daily reports about the financial health of various cities and states, including Illinois.
Bonds are a risky way to deal with pension woes
January 27, 2020
The Daily Breeze (California)
Recently, this column exposed the foolishness of two proposed statewide bond measures: A $15 billion school bond, which will be on the March 3 ballot, as well as a “climate resiliency” bond. Both are horribly flawed for several reasons, not the least of which that it makes no sense for California to go further into debt when we have a large surplus.
The trouble ahead for federal trust funds
January 27, 2020
The Fiscal Times
Republican Senators Mike Enzi (WY) and Mike Braun (IN) asked the GAO to review the status of the funds that support Social Security, Medicare, flood insurance, and many other programs, and the results were published this week.
It may be the biggest tax heist ever. And Europe wants justice
January 24, 2020
The New York Times
One was an Oxford-educated wunderkind who handled the complicated math behind the transactions. The other was a beefy, 6-foot-2 New Zealander with an apparent fondness for Hawaiian shirts, who brought in clients and money.
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