Executive Summary to the 2018 Financial Report of U.S. Government
An Unsustainable Fiscal Path
An important purpose of this Financial Report is to help citizens understand current fiscal policy and the importance and magnitude of policy reforms necessary to make it sustainable. A sustainable fiscal policy is one where the ratio of debt held by the public to GDP (the debt-to-GDP ratio) is stable or declining over the long term. GDP measures the size of the nation’s economy in terms of the total value of all final goods and services that are produced in a year. Considering financial results relative to GDP is a useful indicator of the economy’s capacity to sustain the government’s many programs.
The current fiscal path is unsustainable. To determine if current fiscal policy is sustainable, the projections discussed in the Financial Report assume current policy will continue indefinitely.1 The projections are therefore neither forecasts nor predictions. Nevertheless, policy changes must be enacted so that actual financial outcomes will be different than those projected.
Receipts, Spending, and the Debt
Chart 5 shows historical and current policy projections for receipts, non-interest spending by major category, net interest, and total spending expressed as a percent of GDP.
- The primary deficit is the difference between non-interest spending and receipts. The primary deficit expressed as a ratio relative to GDP (the primary deficit-to-GDP ratio) is useful for gauging long-term fiscal sustainability.
- The primary deficit-to-GDP ratio spiked during 2009 through 2012 due to the financial crisis of 2008-09 and the ensuing severe recession, as well as increased spending and temporary tax reductions enacted to stimulate the economy and support recovery. As an economic recovery took hold, the primary deficit-to-GDP ratio fell, averaging 1.9 percent from 2013-2018. The ratio is projected to rise to 2.9 percent in 2019 and then shrink slightly through 2024 as the economy grows. After 2024, however, increased spending for Social Security and health programs2 due to the continued retirement of the baby boom generation and increases in health care costs is projected to result in increasing primary deficits that peak in 2039, when the primary deficit-to-GDP ratio reaches 4.1 percent. After 2039, the ratio gradually decreases as the aging of the population continues at a slower pace, and reaches 2.5 percent in 2093.
- These projections assume the individual income and estate and gift tax provisions of the TCJA are permanently extended and discretionary spending grows at the same rate as nominal GDP beyond 2019. Congressional action is required to make these changes. GDP, interest, and other economic and demographic assumptions are the same as those that underlie the most recent Social Security and Medicare trustees’ report projections, adjusted for historical revisions that occur annually. See Note 23 for more information.
- The persistent long-term gap between projected receipts and total spending shown in Chart 5 occurs despite the projected effects of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)3 on long-term deficits.
- Enactment of the ACA in 2010 and the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) in 2015 established cost controls for Medicare hospital and physician payments whose long-term effectiveness is still to be demonstrated.
- o There is uncertainty about the extent to which these projections can be achieved and whether the ACA’s provisions that reduce Medicare cost growth will be overridden by new legislation.
Table 1 summarizes the status and projected trends of the Government’s Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds.
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Table 1: Trust Fund Status | ||
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Fund | Projected Depletion | Projected Post-Depletion Trend |
Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI)* | 2026 (2029 in FY 2017 Report) |
In 2026, trust fund income is projected to cover 91 percent of benefits, decreasing to 78 percent in 2042, then increasing to 85 percent by 2092. |
Combined Old-Age Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI)** | 2034 (unchanged from FY 2017 Report) |
In 2034, trust fund income is projected to cover 79 percent of scheduled benefits, decreasing to about 74 percent by 2092. |
*Source: 2018 Medicare Trustees Report ** Source: 2018 OASDI Trustees Report | ||
Projections assume full Social Security and Medicare benefits are paid after fund depletion contrary to current law. |
The primary deficit projections in Chart 5, along with those for interest rates and GDP, determine the debt- to-GDP ratio projections in Chart 6.
- The debt-to-GDP ratio was 78 percent at the end of fiscal year 2018, and under current policy is projected to exceed 100 percent by 2030, and reach 530 percent in 2093.
- The debt-to-GDP ratio rises continuously mainly because higher levels of debt lead to higher net interest expenditures, which lead to higher deficits and debt. The continuous rise of the debt-to-GDP ratio indicates that current fiscal policy is unsustainable.
- These debt-to-GDP projections are generally higher than the corresponding projections in both the FY 2017 and FY 2016 Financial Reports.
The Fiscal Gap and the Cost of Delaying Fiscal Policy Reform
- The 75-year fiscal gap is a measure of how much primary deficits must be reduced over the next 75 years in order to make fiscal policy sustainable. That estimated fiscal gap for 2018 is 4.1 percent of GDP (compared to 2.0 percent for 2017).
- This estimate implies that making fiscal policy sustainable over the next 75 years would require some combination of spending reductions and receipt increases that equals 4.1 percent of GDP on average over the next 75 years. The fiscal gap represents 21.9 percent of 75-year present value receipts and 18.6 percent of 75-year present value non-interest spending.
- The timing of policy changes to make fiscal policy sustainable has important implications for the well-being of future generations as is shown in Table 2.
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Table 2 | |
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Costs of Delaying Fiscal Reform | |
Period of Delay | Change in Average Primary Surplus |
Reform in 2019 (No Delay) | 4.1 percent of GDP between 2019 and 2093 |
Reform in 2029 (Ten-Year Delay) | 4.9 percent of GDP between 2029 and 2093 |
Reform in 2039 (Twenty-Year Delay) | 6.0 percent of GDP between 2039 and 2093 |
Note: Reforms taking place in 2018, 2028, and 2038 from the 2017 Financial Report were 2.0, 2.4, and 3.0 percent of GDP, respectively. |
- Table 2 shows that, if action is delayed by 10 years, the estimated magnitude of primary surplus increases necessary to close the 75-year fiscal gap increases by nearly 20 percent from 4.1 percent of GDP on average over 75 years to 4.9 percent on average over 65 years); if action is delayed by 20 years, the magnitude of reforms necessary increases by about 46 percent.
- Future generations are harmed by a policy delay because the higher the primary surpluses are during their lifetimes, the greater is the difference between the taxes they pay and the programmatic spending from which they benefit.
Conclusion
- Projections in the Financial Report indicate that the government’s debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to rise over the 75-year projection period and beyond if current policy is kept in place. The projections in this Financial Report show that current policy is not sustainable.
- If changes in fiscal policy are not so abrupt as to slow economic growth and the sooner those policy changes are adopted, the smaller the changes to revenue and/or spending will be required to return the government to a sustainable fiscal path.
Footnotes
1Current policy in the projections is based on current law, but includes extension of certain policies that expire under current law but are routinely extended or otherwise expected to continue. (Back to Content)
2See the 2018 Trustees Report for Medicare (pp 4-5) and Social Security (pp 4-23) and the 2017 Medicaid Actuarial Report (Back to Content)
3The ACA refers to P.L. 111-148, as amended by P.L. 111-152. The ACA expands health insurance coverage, provides health insurance subsidies for low-income individuals and families, includes many measures designed to reduce health care cost growth, and significantly reduces Medicare payment rates relative to the rates that would have occurred in the absence of the ACA. (See Note 22 and the Required Supplementary Information section of the Financial Report, and the 2018 Medicare Trustees Report for more information). (Back to Content)
Table of Contents
- Current Report: Fiscal Year 2018 - PDF version
By Section
- A Message from the Secretary of the Treasury - PDF version
- Table of Contents - PDF version
- Results in Brief - PDF version
- The Nation By The Numbers
- Executive Summary - PDF version
- Management's Discussion & Analysis - PDF version
- Statement of the Comptroller General of the United States - PDF version
- Financial Statements - PDF version
- Statements of Net Cost
- Statements of Operations and Changes in Net Position
- Reconciliations of Net Operating Cost and Budget Deficit
- Statements of Changes in Cash Balance from Budget and Other Activities
- Balance Sheets
- Statements of Long-Term Fiscal Projections
- Statements of Social Insurance and Changes in Social Insurance Amounts
- Statements of Changes in Social Insurance Amounts
- Notes to the Financial Statements - PDF version
- Note 1. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - PDF version
- Note 2. Cash and Other Monetary Assets - PDF version
- Note 3. Accounts and Taxes Receivable, Net - PDF version
- Note 4. Loan Receivable and Loan Guarantee Liabilities, Net - PDF version
- Note 5. Inventories and Related Property, Net - PDF version
- Note 6. Property, Plant, and Equipment, Net - PDF version
- Note 7. Debt and Equity Securities - PDF version
- Note 8. Investments in Government-Sponsored Enterprises - PDF version
- Note 9. Other Assets - PDF version
- Note 10. Accounts Payable - PDF version
- Note 11. Federal Debt Securities Held by the Public and Accrued Interest - PDF version
- Note 12. Federal Employee and Veteran Benefits Payable - PDF version
- Note 13. Environmental and Disposal Liabilities - PDF version
- Note 14. Benefits Due and Payable - PDF version
- Note 15. Insurance and Guarantee Program Liabilities - PDF version
- Note 16. Other Liabilities - PDF version
- Note 17. Collections and Refunds of Federal Revenue - PDF version
- Note 18. Contingencies - PDF version
- Note 19. Commitments - PDF version
- Note 20. Funds from Dedicated Collections - PDF version
- Note 21. Fiduciary Activities - PDF version
- Note 22. Social Insurance - PDF version
- Note 23. Long-Term Fiscal Projections - PDF version
- Note 24. Stewardship Land and Heritage Assets - PDF version
- Note 25. Disclosure Entities and Related Parties - PDF version
- Note 26. Subsequent Events - PDF version
- Required Supplementary Information (Unaudited) - PDF version
- The Sustainability of Fiscal Policy - PDF version
- Social Insurance - PDF version
- Deferred Maintenance and Repairs - PDF version
- Other Claims for Refunds - PDF version
- Tax Assessments - PDF version
- Federal Oil and Gas Resources - PDF version
- Federal Natural Resources Other than Oil and Gas - PDF version
- Other Information (Unaudited) - PDF version
- Tax Burden - PDF version
- Tax Gap - PDF version
- Unmatched Transactions and Balances - PDF version
- Required Supplementary Stewardship Information (Unaudited) - PDF version
- Appendices
- Appendix A: Reporting Entity - PDF version
- Appendix B: Acronyms - PDF version
- U.S. Government Accountability Office Independent Auditor's Report - PDF version
- List of Social Insurance Charts - PDF version
- Related Resources
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