CBO: Charting the Cost of Federal Laws

The user friendly web site of the Congressional Budget Office is a goldmine of background information and data for papers, law journal notes, and legislative research. The CBO, established by law in 1974 and today operating with a staff of over 200 mostly economists and public policy experts, has an important mandate: to provide Congress with "objective, nonpartisan and timely analysis" to aid in economic and budgetary decisions, including enacting new legislation and funding federal programs.

The news media and political bloggers routinely refer to CBO reports as authority or to make their case when reporting or discussing hot legislative topics. At the CBO site you can easily find the full reports in PDF, as well as economic forecasts and Congressional testimony for student and faculty research. As a bonus, the Director's Blog at the site posts the very latest data and puts testimony and reports in context. Search the site for particular titles, or locate CBO publications (with related Director's Blog links) by subject area, document type, or currency.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat