US Published National Debt
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The Truth
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Each Taxpayer's Share: $689,000
Financial Transparency Score Report
New TIA analysis issues scores to all 50 states based on how transparent they are with their finances.
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.
New: Financial State of the States 2018
Click here to read Truth in Accounting's newest Financial State of the States report.
The Financial State of the 3 Largest U.S. Cities
See the financial condition of New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago.
State Data Lab
Compare all 50 states and the 75 most populous cities using more than 300 unique data variables.
The truth about transparency in New Mexico’s CAFRs
December 14, 2018
Errors of Enchantment
Last week KRWG’s Anthony Moreno interviewed Truth In Accounting’s Sheila Weinberg, who explained why the Land of Enchantment performs abysmally when it comes to “how transparent [states] are to the public about their finances.”
Chicago's budget fix: Weed, gambling, COLAs, and more gambling? Nice try
December 14, 2018
Wolf Street
Chicago is trying to dodge municipal bankruptcy for as long as possible. Having gotten in trouble over borrowing too much to pay for political promises, it’s now struggling to raise new revenues to pay for those debts and promises. And since these new revenues too are insufficient, it is planning to incur more debt to deal with its debt.
Story brings attention to unfunded health care benefits
December 13, 2018
The Register-Herald
Thank you for Jordan Nelson’s recent article 'PEIA Task Force adopts recommendations.' West Virginia should welcome efforts to address the state’s accumulation of almost $2 billion in unfunded government retiree health care benefit obligations. One reason why these liabilities have mushroomed is that, for decades, state and local governments did not have to include this debt on their balance sheet under government accounting standards.
Connecticut’s pension problem is even more complicated than you think
December 14, 2018
Hartford Courant
In the weeks and months before the midterm election, Connecticut voters heard a dark, ominous, vaguely familiar term: "unfunded pension liabilities."
The DOD’s failed audit shows it shouldn’t get a bigger budget
December 14, 2018
Real Clear Policy
On November 15, a senior Pentagon official publicly admitted that the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) failed its first-ever comprehensive audit. More than 1000 auditors took nearly a year to review the $2.7 trillion organization’s finances. The result: DOD officials say it may take years for the Pentagon to properly account for all its assets and bring recordkeeping practices into line.
Knowledge is power: How does government know what it owns, and how does it affect policy?
December 14, 2018
Civil Service World (UK)
In 2006 Microsoft was the most valuable company on the planet. Its stock market valuation was around $250bn. But its balance sheet “assets” were only about $70bn – and $60bn of that was cash and other financial resources. Traditional assets such as factories and machinery, buildings and computers, accounted for a mere $3bn, or 4% of Microsoft’s assets and only 1% of its market valuation.
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