Federal budget

In July, interest rates on some federal student loans are set to jump from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent -- and students are scrambling to stop the change.

President Obama's new budget proposal -- which will be formally unveiled next week -- includes a move to slow payments to Social Security.

Marketplace Economics Correspondent Chris Farrell joins Morning Report host Jeremy Hobson to discuss the state of infrastructure in the U.S. and whether the country can afford to improve it.

High debt equals low growth, right? That's a widely-held belief among the political class, supported by well-funded bipartisan PR campaigns. But many economists just don't agree.

Differences aside, there is one thing Republicans and Democrats have in common when it comes to their budget proposals: They are both are friendly to baby boomers.

Washington Republicans and Democrats don't seem close to agreeing on a budget, but does the U.S. really need a federal budget in the first place?

It's going to be a big budget week in Washington. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) released his spending plan today, and the Democrats are set to unveil their federal budget sometime in the next few days. But can the two sides come together and agree?

Some federal employees stand to lose as much as 20 percent of their wages because of the sequester.

Former Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX) first used 'sequester' in a budget bill during the Reagan years. He still likes the term and the idea.

Throughout the debate about the deficits and debt, you've probably heard a certain metaphor: One that compares the nation to a household. Well, that metaphor bothers one of the nation's leading economists, Robert Shiller of Yale University.