Implemented desktop capabilities
- National command center: retrieves debt held by the public and total public debt from Treasury FiscalData only when the installed desktop app is asked to refresh. It records the retrieval time and source date.
- Spending intelligence: retains the Connecticut and USAspending source-bounded workbench, provenance hashes, duplicate-conflict blocking and non-allegation safeguards.
- Debt sustainability scenarios: projects a user-supplied deterministic trajectory from debt, GDP, nominal growth, interest, primary balance and fiscal adjustment. Formula and inputs export with the scenario.
- Opportunity registry: keeps published, estimated, approved, implemented and independently verified states separate. A local record requires an HTTPS evidence reference and methodological note.
Data source policy
The active profile is the United States and USD. Treasury FiscalData, USAspending, GAO, CBO and the Connecticut OpenBudget pilot are explicit sources. BEA’s documented API requires registration; FiscalWatch does not silently use an API key or substitute invented GDP data. Canada, the United Kingdom, EU member states, Japan and Australia are architecture placeholders, not live comparisons. Each future country profile needs its own definitions, fiscal-year convention, currency handling and official source contract.
Guardrails
FiscalWatch labels statistical observations, analytical estimates, official findings and independently verified savings separately. It blocks overlapping CBO alternatives in the comparison basket. Non-retrieved debt-to-GDP, deficit, receipts, outlays and interest series appear as unavailable rather than being inferred from incompatible sources. The scenario tool is not an official score, projection or guarantee.
Security and readiness
The desktop native boundary accepts no user-provided upstream URLs. Source responses are time- and size-bounded, redirects are disabled and schemas validate at the renderer boundary. The local audit trail is hash-linked for basic edit detection but is not a digital signature or immutable ledger. See the repository threat model and software bill of materials.
Evaluation status
FiscalWatch is an open-source research pilot. It is not FedRAMP authorized, FISMA certified, independently security audited, signed for release, government endorsed, or connected to restricted systems. Verified annual savings remain $0.