Free Republic

In the first seven months of fiscal 2008, there was a deficit of $152.2 billion, compared with a deficit of $80.8 billion a year earlier. [Billions of dollars] Cumulative total, first 7 months: (1) Fiscal year 2007 1,504.6 1,585.3 -80.8 Fiscal year 2008 1,549.7 1,701.9 -152.2

In the recently released budget, there is a section that contains long-run budget projections through 2080. Graphs and tables summarizing those projections can be found at: http://home.att.net/~rdavis2/pro2005.html Also on that page are the following points that can be drawn from the data: 1) Projections of the long-run public debt have risen steadily over the previous three budgets. In the 2005 Budget, this trend continues in the shorter term with the projection of the public debt in 2010 being 10.1% higher than it was in last year's budget. Over the longer term, however, the public debt is projected rise slightly less...

There has been a great deal of discussion about the role of spending in the current and past deficits of the federal government. Since the most commonly referenced deficit, the unified deficit, is equal to federal revenues minus federal outlays, deficits are affected by all items that affect revenues and outlays. These items include tax rates, economic activity, and spending. Regarding spending, I have posted a number of graphs and tables that look at spending from 1962 to 2008 at the following URLs: http://home.netcom.com/~rdavis2/outcur04.html (Outlays in Billions of Current Dollars) http://home.netcom.com/~rdavis2/outgdp04.html (Outlays as a Percentage of GDP) http://home.netcom.com/~rdavis2/outpc04.html (Outlays per...