We Shouldn't Cheer This Slipping Deficit
The Congressional Budget Office reported Tuesday that the federal deficit -- that is, the gap between spending and revenue -- will shrink below $1 trillion this year for the first time since President Obama took office. The projected $845 billion deficit would be about 5% of gross domestic product. That's the smallest deficit since 2008, when the gap was about 3.2% of GDP.
The deficit peaked in 2009 at just over 10% of GDP -- which, at the time, was the highest since 1945. But 1943 through 1945 saw annual deficits of 27%, 22% and 21%, in that order, due to heavy war spending -- and it resulted in a U.S. economic boom that hasn't been matched since....386 more words left in this article. To read them, just click below and try Real Money FREE for 14 days.
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