Few realize how bad the federal government's finances are, because most evaluations are based on what happened in the past--not what is likely to happen in the future.

Jagadeesh Gokhale is Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, Washington, DC, and a Member of the United States' Social Security Advisory Board. The author's past positions include senior economic advisor to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, consultant at the US Department of the Treasury, and visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He holds a doctorate in economics from Boston University.