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.


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