Fixing the Federal Budget

In our last Capitol Hill Campus course, Dr. Jason Fichtner walked through the steps that go into making the federal budget. From its beginnings in the White House, through the many roles Congress takes to authorize and enforce the budget, he navigated the twisting, puzzling conglomeration of bureaucratic steps, political goals, and accounting rules that go into making our government function.

And yet, deficits are mounting. America’s debt is at an all-time high, and political posturing is clouding the fiscal issues confronting Congress. Please join Dr. Fichtner as he illustrates the structural and practical flaws that plague the budget process, and why government spending bears little, if any, relationship to federal revenues. Dr. Fichtner will examine these systemic problems, as well as a variety of ideas to help Congress bring fiscal responsibility to Washington.

Jason J. Fichtner is Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center. Previously, he served in several positions at the Social Security Administration (SSA) including Deputy Commissioner of Social Security (Acting), Chief Economist and Associate Commissioner for Retirement Policy. Prior to the Social Security Administration, Dr. Fichtner was a Senior Economist with the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) of the United States Congress. Dr. Fichtner’s primary research interests are Social Security, federal tax policy, budget issues, and policy proposals to increase saving and investment.

Dr. Fichtner serves on the Adjunct Faculty at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute and the Virginia Tech Center for Public Administration & Policy where he teaches courses in Public Policy Process, Public Management, and Public Budgeting Processes.