Subsidyscope

March 30, 2011 – Subsidyscope finds that the federal role in the American housing market is larger than any sector studied thus far, including the transportation, nonprofit and energy sectors. In FY2009, the government spent $244 billion on housing-related grants and tax expenditures. This is an average of about $2,085 dollars per household.

The data also show that the government provides significant support for the housing sector through loan guarantees. In fiscal year 2009, federal agencies backed about $688 billion in loans for single- or multi-family homes. These estimates do not include direct housing loans or the substantial liabilities the government assumed when it took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Read more » Permalink

January 5, 2011 – Subsidyscope launches a first-of-its-kind database of federal tax expenditure estimates from the Department of Treasury and the Joint Committee on Taxation. The database allows users to easily view specific tax expenditures from either Treasury or JCT and make side-by-side comparisons. Users can sort and aggregate tax expenditures across budget function or economic sector, or drill down to find information about individual tax expenditures. Today's release includes three economic sectors: Energy, Housing and Transportation. The remaining sectors will be launched in Spring 2011. Read More » Permalink

October 18, 2010 – Building on an earlier analysis Subsidyscope released in November 2009, which illustrated that user fees are increasingly paying for a smaller share of American roads (51 percent in 2007), Subsidyscope presents a database that allows users to explore and visualize highway funding by level of government and by geographic region. Users may also look at the extent to which funding came from user-related revenue or non-user sources. The data that drives this interface is also available for download. Read More » Permalink

October 14, 2010 – The U.S. Maritime Administration’s Title XI Federal Ship Financing Program is a loan guarantee program that subsidizes domestic shipyards. The program has committed nearly $7.5 billion in loan guarantees since 1994. Subsidyscope has compiled 15 years of historical data and summary statistics showing which companies have obtained loan guarantees and how much they received, including outstanding loans and government losses on defaulted loans. The data identify the shipyards that benefited and the ships that were built under the program. Read more » Permalink

September 9, 2010 – Subsidyscope’s analysis of government spending data finds that the federal role in the energy sector is significant, although smaller than its role relative to some other sectors, such as transportation. Total federal spending on tax expenditures and grant programs likely to contain a subsidy in the energy sector was about $25 billion in fiscal year 2009.

In addition to direct spending and tax expenditures, Subsidyscope examines support provided through risk transfers and regulatory subsidies. The energy sector received about $16.7 billion in direct loans and $14.5 billion in loan guarantees in fiscal year 2009. Government estimates for regulatory subsidies are not typically available; however, Subsidyscope provides an overview of some regulatory subsidies. Read more» Permalink