Traditional budget measures-such as the national debt and deficits-are becoming inadequate as federal budget priorities shift increasingly toward social insurance programs. As the baby-boom generation retires and life spans continue to lengthen, the share of retirees in the U.S. population will expand considerably and Social Security and Medicare spending will increasingly dominate the federal budget.

Jagadeesh J. Gokhale, visiting scholar at AEI, will discuss new forward-looking budget measures that show severe and costly fiscal imbalances associated with current federal budget policy, primarily owing to the projected insolvency of Social Security and Medicare. John Sabelhaus of the Congressional Budget Office will discuss how the costs of maintaining Social Security solvency would be allocated across and within generations under various reform scenarios. Joseph Antos will lead a discussion of the Medicare reform debate in Congress, which is trying to satisfy the demand for new benefits while assuring the fiscal viability of the program.