Budget Structure: Providing an Investment Focus in the Federal Budget
(Testimony, 06/29/95, GAO/T-AIMD-95-178).

The nation's economic future depends largely on today's budget and
investment decisions.  Trends in economic investment, however, have not
been encouraging. The pool of national savings available to finance
investment has been shrinking since the 1970s, the level of gross
private domestic investment as a percent of gross domestic product has
fallen during the same period, and many of the nation's trading partners
have significantly higher levels of investment.  The most important
contributions that the federal government can make to a healthy and
growing economy are to reduce the federal deficit and make wise
decisions on investments that will foster long-term economic growth.
GAO believes that the creation of an investment component in the federal
budget could help Congress and the President make more informed
decisions on federal spending on consumption versus investments for the
future.  Separate targets for investment spending within the existing
discretionary spending caps could be set to ensure that the investment
was considered formally in the budget process.  Such a component could
be established within the context of a unified budget framework that
leads to a balanced unified budget over an appropriate period.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  T-AIMD-95-178
     TITLE:  Budget Structure: Providing an Investment Focus in the 
             Federal Budget
      DATE:  06/29/95
   SUBJECT:  Economic growth
             Budget deficit
             Fiscal policies
             Deficit reduction
             Investment planning
             Budgeting
             Economic development
             Macroeconomic analysis
             Budget decision packages

             
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