Last year, in its September 2013 release, the Financial Accounts of the United States (formerly known as Flow of Funds accounts) changed the treatment of defined-benefit (DB) pensions from a cash accounting basis to an accrual accounting basis

When there is a legislative standoff over raising the federal statutory debt limit, the Treasury Department can use its so-called "toolbox of extraordinary measures" to temporarily obtain additional room to borrow and finance the government's operations