Why do CBO and Treasury debt figures differ by a large amount?

congressional budget office ^ | unknown | CBO

[rokkitapps]

Why does the CBO show debt at 3.4T for 2000 and the treasury shows it at 5.6T (no surplus) for 2000?

cbo: http://www.cbo.gov/budget/data/historical.pdf

treasury: http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt_histo5.htm

[rokkitapps]

both are govt sources, what gives? Anyone?

[rokkitapps]

I tried to post this in chat, please move the thread if I messed up. Thanks

[KarlInOhio]

CBO's number is "Debt Held by the Public" so it doesn't include things like the social security trust fund which the government owes to itself. The Treasury figures include those. Look at ftp://ftp.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opds092000.pdf for more details.

[avacado]

I’m taking a guess but the lower value one is public debt and the higher value one is the national debt (public debt + intergovernmental holding debt).

[GraceG]

When it comes to “Cooking the Books” it is best to boil them in water first, that loopsens the binding glue and makes it easier to remove the uneeded pages that contain unwanted facts, only then should you “cook the book” in an oven at 200 degrees F for 45 minutes to re-harden the glue in the bindings...

[smartyaz]

Please read article, explains in detail

http://www.craigsteiner.us/articles/16