RSSFederal Surpluses and Deficits 1968 - 2007
This chart provides a better view of the size of the surpluses and deficits. The largest surplus was $236 billion in 2000, and the largest deficit was $413 billion in 2004. The last bar on the right depicts the $162 billion deficit for 2007.
7 Responses to “Federal Surpluses and Deficits 1968 - 2007”
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June 17th, 2008 at 8:58 am
Bill Clinton might not have been a husband, but he was a good president. His administration far outshines the Reagan/Bush/Bush years. Go Slick Willy!
June 18th, 2008 at 3:10 am
Also, I’ll add before anyone tries to credit Newt that the plan that ended the deficit was enacted in 1993 by President Clinton, before the GOP came to power. The deficit went down in both 1993 and 1994 without GOPers in Congress. the GOP was just lucky to be in power in Congress to try to take credit for it, but no one bought it. Their real leanings have been exposed since Bush took office. But its such a shame Bill had to tarnish his economic legacy with NAFTA. Guess thats why Ross told us to vote Republican in 1994. Not to mention, I wish Al Gore had been a little more honest in that NAFTA debate than just trying to upstage Ross. Guess thats why Ross told us to vote GOP.
June 18th, 2008 at 7:56 am
This chart is misleading, as shown by what rsherow said. The government basically gets to use its own accounting rules to report its financial condition. These numbers are the “cash” based accounting numbers, which look merely at cash that came in versus what went out. Which is fine for personal checking, or a very small business. Federal law requires businesses with revenues over $1M/yr to use “accural” based accounting, which measures income and expenses when they accrue. For example, if I borrow $25k, cash accounting says I have $25k on my books, and doesn’t take into account the fact that I owe that to someone. Accrual accounting says I have $25k + -$25k in debt = $0. During the final four years of Clinton’s budget, they reported at $559B surplus. When the government audited the numbers (with accrual accounting), they actual had a $484B deficit.
While I’d much prefer Clinton’s administration to the Bush administration (I wouldn’t choose either, but Clinton > Bush), using his fake surplus as a reason is just incorrect.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/2006-08-02-deficit-usat_x.htm
June 18th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
There’s a misunderstanding here about accrual basis. The example is wrong, as credits don’t balance with debits under any strategy. If you borrow $25K, you show both asset and liability at once. Borrowing from the bank is not a cash vs accrual question.
For the feds, it works both ways. They build a dam and they don’t count it as an asset. The money is all expensed immediately, which a corporation would not do. But that is dwarfed by the Social Security liability they don’t calculate. We are supposed to be setting aside money now out of the SS surplus to pay benefits in future years. Instead, that money is considered a “gift” to the federal general fund, which is how we manage to be as close to balanced as we seem.
June 19th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
The debt is the product of a simple reality. The US Government taxes its own citizens very highly. The US Government allows foreign competition to American Citizens into their market without requiring them to pay any taxes. This is by definition a Trade War against the Citizens of the USA by their own government.
Many of the problems we face demand INCOME. Without forcing the end of this trade war by the USA against itself we have no hope of income to resolve our problems. Because income is required, the USA can tolerate no policy which does not maximize the wages and working security of the ordinary citizens of the country. Continuing the trade war is literally a national suicide pact. The only question is: Are you Suicidal? If you are do nothing.
There is a one to one relationship between the trade deals NAFTA GATT etc and the collapse of the US citizens ability to earn a living. Basically we must establish a tax system whereby “He who plays here pays here.” This demands the FAIR TAX. Without the FAIR TAX there is no hope of fixing this situation by any means what so ever. Fiscal restraint is nearly impossible and does not stop the root cause of the problem. It may be necessary and we should demand it highly. The cause is the suicidal effort to raise taxes from a people who are having their market flooded with tax free goods.
June 25th, 2008 at 7:39 am
US citizens aren’t taxed very high, we have one of the lowest tax rates in the world. Our tax rate is almost half that of France, Germany, or Belgium. One of our biggest problems is the devaluation of our dollar. This is mainly because of an oversupply of the American dollar.
June 29th, 2008 at 11:57 am
The fix for cash, accrual, or any other proposed accounting is to run the numbers and provide charts on them all. None of them are going to look particularly good and all show a shameful legacy for the next generation.