The Federal Deficit Is Even Bigger Than It Looks
1 year, 2 months ago

The Federal Deficit Is Even Bigger Than It Looks

Live Mint  

When it comes to the size of the federal government’s annual deficit, appearances can be deceiving. The gap between spending and revenue for fiscal year 2023, which ended on Sept. 30, was $1.7 trillion, the Congressional Budget Office projected ahead of the official Treasury Department figures. When the Biden administration announced its plan to forgive federal student debt held by 40 million Americans in September 2022, it logged the long-term cost of the program, $379 billion, on the budget all at once, even though effectively no money was spent on it that year. Rather than update last year’s deficit numbers, though, the Treasury recorded the changes as a $333 billion spending cut in August 2023. The Treasury spent $711 billion on net interest payments last fiscal year, an increase of $177 billion, or 33%, from fiscal year 2022, according to CBO.

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History of this topic

Elon Musk's budget-cutting promises defy arithmetic
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Elon Musk's budget-cutting promises defy arithmetic

LA Times  

President-elect Donald Trump’s designated debt-busters, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, last week wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal providing the fullest accounting yet of their plans to cut “waste, fraud and abuse” — that most well-worn and oft-broken of political promises. Indeed, an omission from the dynamic duo’s piece suggests that they — and Trump — may have …

Key GOP economic talking point destroyed by new analysis
6 months, 2 weeks ago

Key GOP economic talking point destroyed by new analysis

Raw Story  

National debt has for decades been a go-to issue Republicans try to use to persuade voters against supporting social programs — an issue that has crept back to the forefront with new reports that annual interest payments serving the national debt now exceed what the U.S. spends on its military. According to the report, former President Donald Trump's contribution to …

Congressional Budget Office raises this year’s federal budget deficit projection by $400 billion
6 months, 3 weeks ago

Congressional Budget Office raises this year’s federal budget deficit projection by $400 billion

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday that it projects this year’s federal budget deficit to be $400 billion higher, a 27% increase compared to its original estimate released in February. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre, said in a statement that the report “is further evidence of the need for Congress to pass President Biden’s Budget to reduce the …

PETER VAN ONSELEN: Here's the reality of the 2024 Budget for your hip pocket - now and in the years to come
7 months, 4 weeks ago

PETER VAN ONSELEN: Here's the reality of the 2024 Budget for your hip pocket - now and in the years to come

Daily Mail  

This is a Jim-flationary budget, make no mistake. Treasurer Jim Chalmers' handed down his third budget on May 14 Budget 2024 delivers a surplus this financial year but wall to wall deficits in the out years Chalmers began his Budget speech with trademark confidence, smiling and laughing at the podium before formally reading from his notes. But the danger is …

Budget to confirm a surplus this year, but bigger deficits for the next three years
7 months, 4 weeks ago

Budget to confirm a surplus this year, but bigger deficits for the next three years

ABC  

In short: The federal budget will reveal a $9.3 billion surplus for the 2023-24 financial year, which ends next month. The federal budget will reveal a $9.3 billion surplus for the 2023-24 financial year, which ends next month. But the next three financial years will each have higher deficits than the government had expected as recently as December, owing to …

Federal budget to haul in extra cash once again, but less than in previous years
8 months ago

Federal budget to haul in extra cash once again, but less than in previous years

ABC  

Next week's federal budget will once again collect more in tax than expected, raking in an extra $25 billion over the five-year budget forecasting period. The windfall is smaller than in the past six updates, prompting Treasurer Jim Chalmers to warn his third budget would be characterised by "intensifying, not easing" financial pressure to show fiscal restraint. He said this …

The threat of US debt inflated away haunts the country’s fiscal outlook
10 months, 3 weeks ago

The threat of US debt inflated away haunts the country’s fiscal outlook

Live Mint  

One of the few things US Democrats and Republicans appear to agree on is that fiscal responsibility is for losers. The projection assumes that caps on discretionary spending introduced last year will be maintained and that the Trump administration’s 2017 tax cuts will expire in 2025 as the law promised. Didn’t US Congress pass the Fiscal Responsibility Act last year, …

CBO projects a $188 billion decrease in this year’s federal budget deficit, but debt would then grow
11 months ago

CBO projects a $188 billion decrease in this year’s federal budget deficit, but debt would then grow

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday that it expects the federal budget deficit to drop by $188 billion this fiscal year to $1.5 trillion, a short-lived dip as the annual shortfall is likely to rise over the next nine years. That’s mainly because of an agreement President Joe Biden signed last summer with Congressional Republicans that temporarily lifted …

Federal Reserve signals that interest rate cuts aren’t imminent, leaving them unchanged for now
11 months, 1 week ago

Federal Reserve signals that interest rate cuts aren’t imminent, leaving them unchanged for now

LA Times  

Interest rate cuts are coming. “I don’t think it’s likely that the committee will reach a level of confidence by the time of the March meeting” to start cutting rates, Powell said at his news conference. The change in the Fed’s stance Wednesday comes as the economy is showing surprising durability after a series of 11 rate hikes helped drastically …

The Fed is probably done raising interest rates and could cut them next year
1 year ago

The Fed is probably done raising interest rates and could cut them next year

NPR  

The Fed is probably done raising interest rates and could cut them next year Enlarge this image toggle caption Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images The Federal Reserve signaled it's probably done raising interest rates to curb inflation and the central bank could start cutting rates next year. "We're seeing inflation making real progress," Fed chairman Jerome Powell told reporters …

Column: The budget lie at the heart of House Speaker Johnson’s Israel aid proposal
1 year, 2 months ago

Column: The budget lie at the heart of House Speaker Johnson’s Israel aid proposal

LA Times  

Scarcely a week into the tenure of House Speaker Mike Johnson, and his view of American voters and the press as dimwits to be gulled is becoming clearer with every day. — House Speaker Mike Johnson tries to fool all of the people all of the time The reason is that most of the money is earmarked for “enforcement and …

US budget gap soars to $1.7 trillion, largest outside COVID era
1 year, 2 months ago

US budget gap soars to $1.7 trillion, largest outside COVID era

Live Mint  

The United States government on Friday posted a $1.695 trillion budget deficit in fiscal 2023, a 23 percent jump from the prior year as revenues fell and outlays for Social Security, Medicare and record-high interest costs on the federal debt rose. Taking into account the two one-off adjustments, last fiscal year's deficit would have been closer to $1 trillion and …

Supreme Court’s student loan decision will lower US deficit according to new White House projection
1 year, 5 months ago

Supreme Court’s student loan decision will lower US deficit according to new White House projection

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruling that upended President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive student loan debt changed his budget math, modestly lowering the projected deficit for this year, his budget office reported Friday. The Office of Management and Budget’s Mid-Session Review represents the administration’s first recalculations of the loan program since the court’s June decision, which will affect millions …

More red ink: Congressional budget agency projects bigger deficits as debt talks continue
1 year, 7 months ago

More red ink: Congressional budget agency projects bigger deficits as debt talks continue

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — This year’s projected government budget deficit has jumped by $130 billion, due in part to a proposed change to student loan repayment plans and a series of bank rescues organized by federal regulators, the Congressional Budget Office said Friday. Revenue collections through April were lower than the agency expected, resulting in a projected budget deficit of $1.5 trillion …

Biden budget aims to cut deficits nearly $3T over 10 years
1 year, 10 months ago

Biden budget aims to cut deficits nearly $3T over 10 years

Firstpost  

Washington: President Joe Biden’s upcoming budget proposal aims to cut deficits by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade, according to an administration official. The official familiar with Biden’s budget plan was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter before the president’s official announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity on Wednesday. The official said Biden also will propose cutting …

Congressional Budget Office projects higher unemployment, slow exit from inflation
1 year, 10 months ago

Congressional Budget Office projects higher unemployment, slow exit from inflation

LA Times  

The Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday that it expects the U.S. economy to stagnate this year with the unemployment rate jumping to 5.1% — a bleak outlook that was paired with a 10-year projection that publicly held U.S. debt would nearly double to $46.4 trillion in 2033. The updated 10-year Budget and Economic Outlook outlined stark expectations for the coming …

Congress Could Help Contain Inflation In The Lame-Duck Session. It Won’t.
2 years, 1 month ago

Congress Could Help Contain Inflation In The Lame-Duck Session. It Won’t.

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING In ad after ad during the fall, congressional candidates decried inflation. “We will stay the course until the job is done.” - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell Inflation has shown signs of receding after running ahead at a breakneck pace earlier in the year. While putting the Medicare cuts on pause again may cost much less than …

Labor inherited a federal budget on a highway to hell. It's a taxing time to get it back in black
2 years, 2 months ago

Labor inherited a federal budget on a highway to hell. It's a taxing time to get it back in black

ABC  

A few years back, Josh Frydenberg triumphantly announced the end of almost a decade of deficits. A budget car crash is coming Photo shows Jim Chalmers and Katy Gallagher at a press conference on budget day The budget paints a grim picture of the economy in the 12 months ahead as it will be experienced by most households, with less …

Deficit figures set up competing visions from Biden and GOP
2 years, 2 months ago

Deficit figures set up competing visions from Biden and GOP

Associated Press  

This fiscal year’s budget deficit shrunk in half from last year, but the red ink soared on a monthly basis in September largely because of President Joe Biden’s plans to forgive student debt, as three decades’ worth of costs were compressed into a single month. The budget figures released Friday by the Treasury Department reveal dueling visions about what it …

US starts fiscal year with record $31 trillion in debt
2 years, 3 months ago

US starts fiscal year with record $31 trillion in debt

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The nation’s gross national debt has surpassed $31 trillion, according to a U.S. Treasury report released Tuesday that logs America’s daily finances. Edging closer to the statutory ceiling of roughly $31.4 trillion — an artificial cap Congress placed on the U.S. government’s ability to borrow — the debt numbers hit an already tenuous economy facing high inflation, rising …

Biden’s student-debt-forgiveness plan may cost up to $1 trillion
2 years, 4 months ago

Biden’s student-debt-forgiveness plan may cost up to $1 trillion

Live Mint  

President Biden’s plan to cancel student debt and modify payments for millions of Americans could cost as much as $1 trillion, according to budget analysts, challenging the administration’s efforts to scale down the federal deficit. The White House hasn’t released comparable estimates of the policy’s total cost, though it said the debt-cancellation portion of the plan alone would reduce revenue …

Biden administration forecasts $1.03T deficit, down $400B
2 years, 4 months ago

Biden administration forecasts $1.03T deficit, down $400B

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is forecasting that this year’s budget deficit will be nearly $400 billion lower than it estimated back in March, due in part to stronger than expected revenues, reduced spending, and an economy that has recovered all of the jobs lost during the multi-year pandemic. The administration’s Mid-Session Review said much of the improvement in the …

Report: Federal debt lower in 2022; still poised to climb
2 years, 5 months ago

Report: Federal debt lower in 2022; still poised to climb

Associated Press  

The Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday that the end of pandemic-era spending, fast economic growth and higher tax revenues have caused the federal debt this year to be lower than forecast. GOP lawmakers have also stressed the importance of containing federal debt, yet annual deficits worsened during the tenure of former President Donald Trump. This year’s budget deficit is equal …

Congressional Budget Office says inflation to last into 2023
2 years, 7 months ago

Congressional Budget Office says inflation to last into 2023

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Congressional Budget Office released an economic outlook Wednesday saying high inflation will persist into next year, likely causing the federal government to pay higher interest rates on its debt. With Biden’s $3.5 trillion economic and social spending bill, known as “Build Back Better,” now dead in a split Senate, Democrats face pressure to pass legislation ahead of …

Biden showcases deficit progress in bid to counter critics
2 years, 8 months ago

Biden showcases deficit progress in bid to counter critics

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday highlighted new figures showing the government’s red ink will grow less than expected this year and the national debt will shrink this quarter as he tried to counter criticism of his economic leadership amid growing dismay over inflation going into midterm elections that will decide control of Congress. Biden, embracing deficit reduction as …

The labor shortage could lead to a recession next year
2 years, 10 months ago

The labor shortage could lead to a recession next year

CNN  

Editor’s Note: Gad Levanon is the chief economist at the Burning Glass Institute. So with the central bank expected to raise rates next month, barring a major impact on the US economy from the war in Europe, the question remains: Can the Fed contain inflation without triggering a recession? In the second half of 2022, the Federal Reserve may find …

New inflation number feeds angst about Democrats’ $2T bill
3 years, 1 month ago

New inflation number feeds angst about Democrats’ $2T bill

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Government reports on rising inflation and the potential costs of President Joe Biden’s social and environment legislation raised fresh questions Friday about the bill’s fate, with both sides hoping the new numbers would influence pivotal Sen. Joe Manchin. Manchin said in a brief interview Thursday that he wanted to know “where we are in inflation and where we …

Improvement in budget deficit as COVID recovery provides economic boost in first half of 2021
3 years, 3 months ago

Improvement in budget deficit as COVID recovery provides economic boost in first half of 2021

ABC  

The federal government has revealed the budget deficit was $27 billion lower than forecast in the May budget. Key points: Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says lower unemployment is to thank for the improvement The original forecast was for a $161 billion deficit for the 2020-21 financial year The extended lockdowns in NSW, Victoria and the ACT are expected to increase this …

Budget deficit shrinks in process of protecting jobs during the COVID pandemic
3 years, 3 months ago

Budget deficit shrinks in process of protecting jobs during the COVID pandemic

ABC  

The final budget numbers are in and they're better than expected. Last year's 2020-21 budget estimated that, by the end of the financial year on June 30, the size of the budget deficit would be $161 billion. A budget "deficit" is simply an accounting term that describes a situation where the Federal Government is spending more money into the community …

US debt projected to balloon to more than double GDP by 2051
3 years, 10 months ago

US debt projected to balloon to more than double GDP by 2051

Al Jazeera  

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office warned that by 2051, the United States’ debt will skyrocket to 202 percent of its gross domestic product, up from 102 percent this year. The U.S. federal debt will grow to more than double the size of the economy in three decades, increasing the risk of a fiscal crisis even though dangers appear low in …

US debt hasn’t been this high since World War II. That’s ok…for now
4 years, 2 months ago

US debt hasn’t been this high since World War II. That’s ok…for now

CNN  

The amount of money that the United States owes investors has hit record levels in more than a few ways, based on newnumbers reported Friday by the US Treasury. Both the annual deficit and total debt accumulated over the years has topped levels not seen since World War II. Having topped $21 trillion, the country’s total debt owed to investors …

US budget deficit hits all-time high of $864 billion in June
4 years, 5 months ago

US budget deficit hits all-time high of $864 billion in June

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The federal government incurred the biggest monthly budget deficit in history in June as spending on programs to combat the coronavirus recession exploded while millions of job losses cut into tax revenues. For the first nine months of this budget year, which began Oct. 1, the deficit totals $2.74 trillion, also a record for that period. That total …

$1 trillion deficits and near-zero rates. The worst way to enter a recession
4 years, 9 months ago

$1 trillion deficits and near-zero rates. The worst way to enter a recession

CNN  

New York CNN Business — Washington rushed to pump the American economy with emergency-style medicine in recent years – even though there was no emergency in sight. “The lesson learned from Japan and Europe is that negative rates don’t really help the financial system,” said Mark Howard, senior multi asset specialist at BNP Paribas. That’s because the Fed kept interest …

The ACT's budget deficit triples amid fears that coronavirus and bushfires will blow it out further
4 years, 10 months ago

The ACT's budget deficit triples amid fears that coronavirus and bushfires will blow it out further

ABC  

The ACT's budget deficit for this financial year is forecast to blow out to more than $255 million, nearly triple what was originally expected. Key points: The ACT budget deficit is projected to rise from $89.1 million for 2019-20 to be more than $255 million The causes include the ACT's shrinking share of GST revenue, and greater spending on hospitals …

Budget 2020 | Government bites the fiscal deficit bullet
4 years, 11 months ago

Budget 2020 | Government bites the fiscal deficit bullet

The Hindu  

The government has decided to bite the fiscal deficit bullet in the wake of lower tax collections, amid a slowing economy, by allowing fiscal deficit to go up to 3.8% of the GDP for the current financial year, compared with 3.3% projected in the previous year’s Budget. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman cited Section 4 of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget …

Budget 2020: Will govt be brave enough to walk the extra mile, turn tables and spark a rebound in economic growth?
4 years, 11 months ago

Budget 2020: Will govt be brave enough to walk the extra mile, turn tables and spark a rebound in economic growth?

Firstpost  

The Indian economy is going through a sustained slowdown with growth slowing for over five quarters now, marking this the longest slowdown in the country since liberalisation The current economic situation is no less than a nightmare for policymakers, who have been trying to turn things around with policy actions and are now fast running out of policy ammunition. The …

US government’s annual budget deficit largest since 2012
5 years, 2 months ago

US government’s annual budget deficit largest since 2012

Live Mint  

The US government ended fiscal year 2019 with the largest budget deficit in seven years as gains in tax receipts were offset by higher spending and growing debt service payments, the Treasury department said on Friday. The annual budget deficit had been reduced to $585 billion by the end of former President Barack Obama's second term in 2016 and Republicans …

$1 trillion deficits and rate cuts: Washington’s upside-down response to economic prosperity
5 years, 5 months ago

$1 trillion deficits and rate cuts: Washington’s upside-down response to economic prosperity

CNN  

New York CNN Business — America’s economy is in a period of historic prosperity, but you wouldn’t know it from Washington’s policymaking. “But we’re not doing that, so we will be poorer in the long run because of it.” Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco, called Washington’s dual-pronged response to economic prosperity “bizarre.” “It’s almost Twilight-Zone economics. “It’s …

US budget deficit running 15% higher than a year ago
5 years, 9 months ago

US budget deficit running 15% higher than a year ago

Daily Mail  

The federal government reported a $146.9billion deficit in March, causing annual debt to rise 15 per cent for the first half of the budget year compared to the same period in 2018. The Treasury Department said Wednesday in its monthly report that the fiscal year deficit has so far totaled $691billion, up from nearly $600bn in 2018. The federal government …

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