The national debt of the United States is the total national debt owed by the federal government of the United States to Treasury security holders. The national debt at any point in time is the face value of the then-outstanding Treasury securities that have been issued by the Treasury and other federal agencies. The terms "national deficit" and "national surplus" usually refer to the federal government budget balance from year to year, not the cumulative amount of debt. In a deficit year the national debt increases as the government needs to borrow funds to finance the deficit, while in a surplus year the debt decreases as more money is received than spent, enabling the government to reduce the debt by buying back some Treasury securities. In general, government debt increases as a result of government spending and decreases from tax or other receipts, both of which fluctuate during the course of a fiscal year. There are two components of gross national debt:
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a federal agency within the legislative branch of the United States government that provides budget and economic information to Congress. Inspired by California's Legislative Analyst's Office that manages the state budget in a strictly nonpartisan fashion, the CBO was created as a nonpartisan agency by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974.
The Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner of Canada is an entity of the Parliament of Canada. The commissioner is an independent officer of Parliament, who administers the Conflict of Interest Act and the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons and is supported in this role by the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner. The position came into effect on July 9, 2007, with the coming into force of the Conflict of Interest Act. This act, in turn, was enacted as part of the Federal Accountability Act.
The United States budget comprises the spending and revenues of the U.S. federal government. The budget is the financial representation of the priorities of the government, reflecting historical debates and competing economic philosophies. The government primarily spends on healthcare, retirement, and defense programs. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office provides extensive analysis of the budget and its economic effects. CBO estimated in February 2024 that Federal debt held by the public is projected to rise from 99 percent of GDP in 2024 to 116 percent in 2034 and would continue to grow if current laws generally remained unchanged. Over that period, the growth of interest costs and mandatory spending outpaces the growth of revenues and the economy, driving up debt. Those factors persist beyond 2034, pushing federal debt higher still, to 172 percent of GDP in 2054.
Several policies regarding interior and domestic issues in Canada were planned and adopted by the Cabinet of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, after he came to office as the head of a minority government on February 6, 2006. At the beginning of the government's appointment, five policy priorities were identified in the areas of federal accountability, tax reform, crime, child care and health care.
Kevin Page is a Canadian economist. He was the first Parliamentary Budget Officer for Canada. He was appointed to the position on March 25, 2008, and his term was completed on March 22, 2013. He now teaches at the University of Ottawa. In 2013, Page was named as the Jean-Luc Pepin Research Chair on Canadian Government. In 2016, Page became the head of the newly created Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy (IFSD), a think tank with a focus on public finance and policy at the University of Ottawa.
The Canadian federal budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year was presented to the House of Commons of Canada by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty on January 27, 2009. The federal budget included $20 billion in personal income tax cuts as well as major investments in infrastructure.
Canadian public debt, or general government debt, is the liabilities of the government sector. Government gross debt consists of liabilities that are a financial claim that requires payment of interest and/or principal in future. They consist mainly of Treasury bonds, but also include public service employee pension liabilities. Changes in debt arise primarily from new borrowing, due to government expenditures exceeding revenues.
In Canada, the federal government makes equalization payments to provincial governments of lesser fiscal capacity so that "reasonably comparable" levels of public services can be provided at similar levels of taxation. Equalization payments are entrenched in the Constitution Act of 1982, subsection 36(2).
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is a non-departmental public body funded by the UK Treasury, that the UK government established to provide independent economic forecasts and independent analysis of the public finances. It was formally created in May 2010 following the general election and was placed on a statutory footing by the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011. It is one of a growing number of official independent fiscal watchdogs around the world.
The National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), formerly the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS), is a Government of Canada program operated by the Department of Public Works and Government Services. The NSS was developed under the Stephen Harper Government in an effort to renew the fleets of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG). The strategy was broken into three sections; the combat package, the non-combat package and the smaller vessel package. The companies who won the bids for the larger ships were not permitted to bid on the smaller vessel package. In 2019, the Trudeau Government decided to add a third shipyard to the NSS specializing in the construction of icebreakers for the Coast Guard. The agreement to incorporate Davie as a third shipyard within the NSS was finally signed in April 2023.
The National Assembly Budget Office (NABO) supports the Korean National Assembly by analyzing and evaluating issues related to the national budget, fund and fiscal operations.
The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) is an agency of the Australian Parliament whose purpose is to "inform the parliament by providing independent and non-partisan analysis of the budget cycle, fiscal policy and the financial implications of proposals". It was established by the Gillard government following minority government formation negotiations. Following that commitment, a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Parliamentary Budget Office was convened, chaired by John Faulkner. The PBO's independence is enshrined in legislation.
The 1993 Canadian budget was a Canadian federal budget for the Government of Canada presented by Minister of Finance Don Mazankowski in the House of Commons of Canada on 26 April 1993. It was the fifth budget after the 1988 Canadian federal election and would be the last before the 1993 Canadian federal election.
The Pro-Growth Budgeting Act of 2013 is a bill that would require the Congressional Budget Office to provide a macroeconomic impact analysis for bills that are estimated to have a large budgetary effect.
The Canadian federal budget for fiscal year 2015–2016 was presented to the House of Commons of Canada by Joe Oliver on 21 April 2015. This was the last budget before the 2015 federal election. The budget was supposed to be presented in February or March before the fiscal year began on April 1, but was delayed because of the steep drop in oil prices in the winter of 2014–15. A surplus of $1.4 billion was projected for the fiscal year 2015-2016, however this was adjusted by the new government to a deficit of $1.0 billion by end of March 2016. This was later adjusted to $2.9 billion after reflecting a change requested by the Auditor General dating back 10 years' worth of federal budgets, specifically with regards to the discount rate methodology used to determine the present value of the Government's unfunded pension obligations.
The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians is a body composed of members of the House of Commons and Senate which reviews the activities of the Government of Canada's national security and intelligence agencies. The committee also performs strategic and systematic reviews of the legislative, regulatory, policy, expenditure and administrative frameworks under which national security activities are conducted.
Irish Fiscal Advisory Council is a non-departmental statutory body providing independent assessments and analysis of the Irish Government's fiscal stance, its economic and budgetary forecasts, and its compliance with fiscal rules. The Fiscal Council was created as part of a wider agenda of budgetary reform after the financial crisis.
The Canada Infrastructure Bank (French: Banque de l'infrastructure du Canada) (CIB) is a federal Crown Corporation of Canada tasked with financially supporting revenue-generating infrastructure projects that are "in the public interest" by catalyzing private investment through methods such as direct investment and public-private partnerships.
