Our nation is facing a number of enormous challenges – demographic changes due to a rapidly aging Baby Boomer generation and a declining share of younger generations to support them, increasing international competition for which our nation must be prepared, a large national debt that we will be asking our children to pay off, and yet, a declining share of investments made in these younger generations to reach their full potential to meet these rising challenges. The Urban Institute projects that federal spending on interest on the national debt will soon exceed all federal investment in our children. If our federal budget is an indication of our national priorities, we are not doing what is necessary to meet the future threats and opportunities that confront the country.
