Generational Accounts: A New Approach to Fiscal Policy Evaluation

Despite recent attempts to impose discipline on the federal budget-making process, federal budget deficits have continued to escalate over the past several years. The prospect of still larger deficits over the next few years has stimulated discussion about how to bring them under control. Some have suggested reforms that would enable the federal government to achieve balanced budgets, not necessarily in every year in the future, but at least on average over a number of years.