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April 30, 2010
Graph of the Day for April 30, 2010
"The peace dividend at the end of the Cold War combined with the booming economy of the 1990s (and some tech-bubble tax receipts) to create an unexpected dilemma in 2000: what to do with the budget surpluses that were forecast for years to come? ...But a decade later, we're back in debt madness. The causes of this reversal are not a mystery: tax cuts, two wars, a new Medicare drug benefit, two recessions, massive bailouts and a huge stimulus package -- very little of it paid for in any conventional sense." Joel Achenbach, The Washington Post.
Source: The Heritage Foundation.
Hoven's Index for April 30, 2010
Federal spending as a percent of GDP:
1970-2000 average (pre-Bush): 20.9% of GDP
2001-2008 average (Bush): 19.9% of GDP
Federal deficits as a percent of GDP:
1970-2000 average (pre-Bush): 2.5% of GDP
2001-2008 average (Bush): 2.0% of GDP
Source: US Government via GPO Access, Table 1.2.
CBO's estimate of average deficit over 2009-2016 (post-Bush): 6.6% of GDP.
Graph of the Day Archive.