The economy strengthened in fiscal year 2004, with real gross domestic product (GDP) growing at a faster pace than in the prior fiscal year and employment posting a large increase after declining in each of the previous 3 fiscal years. Rising employment and income contributed to an increase.in fiscal year 2004-the first gain in four years.Outlays, however, rose more than receipts and the Federal budget deficit widened in fiscal year 2004 to $412.3 billion, an increase of $37.5 billion from $374.8 billion in fiscal year 2003. Overall, results in fiscal year 2004 were mixed.- Economic and Budgetary Results, Financial Report Of The United States GovernmentFINANCIAL REPORT OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT is prepared to give the President, Congress, and the American people information about the financial results and position of the Federal Government. The Department of the Treasury's Financial Management Service, which provides centralized payment, collection, and reporting services for the Federal Government and acts as its money manager, issues this report on an annual basis.The Financial Report provides a broad, comprehensive overview of the Federal Government's finances and states the Government's financial position and condition, its revenues and costs, its assets and liabilities as well as other obligations and commitments.A Financial Report is submitted to Congress by March of each year as is required by law and is subject to audit by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The next scheduled Financial Report will be issued in December 2005. For more information about the Department of Treasury, please visit http: //fms.treas.gov.

Experts discuss fiscal reforms intended to address the U.S. debt problem, examining entitlements, federal budgetary processes, and individual and corporate income taxes. The United States and other advanced economies in the Eurozone and elsewhere face severe fiscal problems. The United States is on an unsustainable dynamic path; absent corrective fiscal policies, federal deficits and debts relative to gross domestic product will continue to increase dramatically. In this book, experts consider possible fiscal reforms aimed at addressing the debt problem, focusing on entitlement programs, budgetary issues and processes, and individual and corporate income tax reform. The contributors address such topics as the interaction of rising health care costs and the level of federal expenditures; alternative methods for evaluating the fiscal health and sustainability of Social Security; the effectiveness of budgetary constraints imposed on the states, including balanced budget amendments and debt ceilings; approaches to curtailing individual tax expenditures and methods for increasing the progressivity of the tax system; and the effects of traditional base-broadening, rate-reducing corporate income tax reforms. Contributors Henry J. Aaron, James Alm, Rosanne Altshuler, Daniel Baneman, Joe Barnes, Robert J. Carroll, Ruud A. de Mooij, John W. Diamond, Jagadeesh Gokhale, Jane G. Gravelle, Peter R. Hartley, Vivian Ho, John Kitchen, Edward D. Kleinbard, John Mutti, Thomas S. Neubig, Mark V. Pauly, Rudolph G. Penner, Andrew J. Rettenmaier, Shanna Rose, Joseph Rosenberg, Daniel Smith, Eric Toder, Alan D. Viard, Roberton Williams, George R. Zodrow

The Fifth Edition of this best-selling health policy text is updated with a collection of new articles on various health policies. Health Policy provides a basic overview of the health policy and political process as it relates to thte health status of the US, the organization and issues of the healthcare system, and healthcare economics.

This publication is timed to coincide with the half-century anniversary of the Disability Program. It chronicles the trends in federal disability programs. The report compiles data from national and international sources.