Our Nation's Bleak Long-Term Fiscal Outlook

February 23, 2007
Our Nation's Bleak Long-Term Fiscal Outlook

The long-term fiscal outlook results from a large and persistent gap
between expected revenues and expected spending.

For GAO's "Baseline extended" simulation, closing the fiscal gap would
require spending cuts or tax increases equal to 3.6 percent of the
entire economy each year over the next 75 years, or a total of $26
trillion in present value terms. For GAO's alternative simulation, the
gap is 7.5 percent of the economy, or about $55 trillion in present
value terms. To put this in perspective, if we were to invest enough
today to pay off these amounts over the next 75 years, the sums needed
would amount to about $87,000 to $182,000 per person, or about $208,000
to $435,000 for each full-time worker.