Episodes

48 minutes ago
Mobilizing the Public on the Deficit and Debt
48 minutes ago
48 minutes ago
This week on Facing the Future, host Bob Bixby joins Maya MacGuineas of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Jonathan Silver of Affinity Solutions and Andrew Lewis of the University of Cincinnati's Portman Center in a panel discussion on strategies for getting the public to put deficit reduction on the political agenda.

Wednesday May 20, 2026
Defense Increase Ask Is Short On Details
Wednesday May 20, 2026
Wednesday May 20, 2026
This week on Facing the Future, Todd Harrison of the American Enterprise Institute lays out the pros and cons of the president's request for a 50 percent increase in the defense budget.

Wednesday May 13, 2026
Congress Should Stop Fast-Tracking Higher Debt
Wednesday May 13, 2026
Wednesday May 13, 2026
This week on Facing the Future, former U.S. Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) explains why he supports a new fiscal commission as a way of finding solutions to the nation's growing debt and how reinstating the "Conrad rule" in the Senate would help.

Wednesday May 06, 2026
Congress Does a Budget Resolution, One Year Late
Wednesday May 06, 2026
Wednesday May 06, 2026
This week on Facing the Future, Molly Reynolds of the Brookings Institution explains why the budget resolution recently passed by Congress is highly unusual and a year behind schedule.

Wednesday Apr 29, 2026
College Students Are Up To The Fiscal Challenge
Wednesday Apr 29, 2026
Wednesday Apr 29, 2026
This week on Facing the Future, students from the University of Iowa and their faculty adviser Dr. Alexandra Nica, describe how they reduced the debt-to-GDP ratio over the next 30 years and what they learned in winning this year's nationwide Fiscal Challenge competition.

Wednesday Apr 22, 2026
Are Democrats Backing "Slopulist" Tax Cuts?
Wednesday Apr 22, 2026
Wednesday Apr 22, 2026
This week on Facing the Future, Ben Ritz, Vice President of Policy Development at the Progressive Policy Institute, discusses why new tax cut proposals have him wondering whether Democrats learned the wrong lesson from 2024.

Wednesday Apr 15, 2026
Kicking the Can Down the Road, Again
Wednesday Apr 15, 2026
Wednesday Apr 15, 2026
This week on Facing the Future, Jessica Riedl of the Brookings Institution evaluates President Trump's new budget and describes her findings on the Biden fiscal legacy.

Wednesday Apr 08, 2026
Building an Achievable Fiscal Policy
Wednesday Apr 08, 2026
Wednesday Apr 08, 2026
The week on Facing the Future, former Senator Rob Portman and Concord Coalition Executive Director Carolyn Bourdeaux lay out the opportunities for impactful legislation to bring the debt under control. Alex Brill, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, moderates the discussion.

Wednesday Apr 01, 2026
Taxing Choices
Wednesday Apr 01, 2026
Wednesday Apr 01, 2026
This week on Facing the Future, Alex Brill of the American Enterprise Institute will discuss tax policy and the budget. Then, Jon McHenry of North Star Opinion Research will explain the latest findings of the Peterson Foundation's Fiscal Confidence Index.

Wednesday Mar 25, 2026
Make the Debt Sustainable Again
Wednesday Mar 25, 2026
Wednesday Mar 25, 2026
This week on Facing the Future, former Obama and Clinton economic advisor Jason Furman talks about the economic fallout from the war in Iran and the importance of putting the debt on a sustainable path.

