HKS Authors

See citation below for complete author information.

Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Public Policy; Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor

Abstract

Including macroeconomic effects in budget estimates for certain legislative proposals would improve the accuracy of those estimates and would provide important information about the economic effects of those proposals. Moreover, if certain key conditions were satisfied, those estimates would meet the general goals of the estimating process that estimates be understandable and resistant to misinterpretation, based on a consistent and credible methodology, produced quickly enough to serve the legislative process, and prepared using the resources available to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT).

Citation

Elmendorf, Douglas. "Dynamic Scoring: Why and How to Include Macroeconomic Effects in Budget Estimates for Legislative Proposals." Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (September 2015).