Facing the Future

By The Concord CoalitionBusiness Education Government Non-Profit

Facing the Future episodes

December 03, 2025 The Bond Market is King
This week on Facing the Future, we'll check in on the economy and the bond market with Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. She recently wrote a paper for the Peter G. Peterson Foundation titled, “Welcome to the New Era of U.S. Debt Where the Bond Market is King.”
45 min
November 19, 2025 Government Reopens With All The Same Problems
This week on Facing the Future, we look at the daunting agenda facing Congress after passing a budget deal to temporarily reopen the government. Our guest is Ben Ritz, Vice President of Policy Development at the Progressive Policy Institute.
44 min
November 12, 2025 Untethered Fiscal Policy Challenges the Fed
This week on Facing the Future, Peter Fisher, Distinguished Senior Fellow at the MIT Golub Center for Finance and Policy, describes the potential consequences of America's “untethered fiscal policy” and the risks of hyperinflation or default on the debt.
45 min
November 05, 2025 Premium Subsidy Extension Should Be Paid For
This week on Facing the Future, we looked at the major impact of health care spending on the federal budget with Anna Bonelli, Director of Health Policy at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. The discussion included expiring enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Medicare insolvency and Medicare Advantage overpayments.
45 min
October 29, 2025 What's Next For Tax Policy?
This week on Facing the Future, we focused on tax policy with Howard Gleckman, non-resident fellow at the Urban Institute and the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. He explained his recent column, "What The Ugly History of Tax Policy Over The Past Four Decades Means For The Future."
45 min
October 21, 2025 Huizenga and Peters Say No Budget No Pay
This week on Facing the Future we talked with Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA) and Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) about two bills they have co-sponsored. One would create a bipartisan fiscal commission and the other would dock the pay of members of Congress for not doing their budget and appropriations bills on time.
45 min
October 15, 2025 Economic Growth Alone Won't Reduce the Debt
This week on Facing the Future, former CBO director Doug Elmendorf of Harvard's Kennedy School discussed the state of the economy, the government shutdown and why policymakers should not rely on economic growth alone to rein in the unsustainable growth of debt.
45 min
October 08, 2025 Economic Fallout from the Shutdown
This week on Facing the Future we looked at the federal government shutdown from political and economic perspectives. Our guests were David Lerman, Editor of CQ Budget, who covers Capitol Hill, and Gordon Gray, Vice President for Budget Analysis at the Peter G Peterson Foundation, who tracks the economy.
46 min
October 01, 2025 Expiring Subsidies and New Fees
This week on Facing the Future, we discussed expiring premium subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans with Matt McGough of KFF and a new fee proposed by President Trump for high-skilled worker visas (H-1B) with Theresa Cardinal Brown of the Bipartisan Policy Center.
45 min
September 24, 2025 The Debt is the Threat
This week on Facing the Future, former U. S. Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) discussed why the nation's debt is on an unsustainable path and what needs to be done about it.
45 min