The Federal Budget Deficit

The growing national deficit is a looming problem in the United States now more than ever. The national debt is constantly increasing and government spending is out of control. If these issues are not solved then they could spell disaster for the nation’s economy when the infamous debt ceiling is finally reached. Currently the national policy on the debt is to continue raising the debt limit until a solution is found that is agreeable between both parties in Congress. The two main issues of over spending and the constant raising of the debts ceiling by Congress can both be resolved by government spending reform, balancing the federal budget and initiating pro-growth policies in order to increase the government’s tax revenue.

Many United States' citizens are unaware of the country's current financial state. Many assume that one of the world's wealthiest countries could never be in debt. This is untrue however, and, in fact, the country with the greatest income per capita is in major debt. This study will examine possible solutions to reducing the United States' national budget deficit.

Since the nation’s very beginning, it has carried a debt from the American Revolution. Only once in the entire U.S. history has been the debt zero, during President Andrew Jackson’s administration in the 1830’s. President Jackson set a budget like the other future and past presidents, but actually stayed within its parameters. However, the debt kept growing after his presidency and reached $18 trillion dollars today. The world has changed a lot since the 1830’s, the methods used during that period can no longer be the solution in 2015 because there are just too many factors that must be considered. The size and the population of the country have changed dramatically, foreign relationships are far more complicated and broader, and people’s expectations of the government are different.

Any person struggling through difficult times will seek out other means of financial support including borrowing money that may be harder to pay back in the future. The United States will often follow a similar path and spend more money than it earns. Deficit spending in the United States comes with some advantages, disadvantages, and strong criticism. Some feel deficit spending is good for getting the economy back in motion while others contend it does nothing for the economy. The effects of deficit spending are carefully examined to determine if the United States is improving or degrading the future of the economy.

The federal budget deficit that we put so much trust in having handled for us is not to be dismissed so easily. This isn 't just about the future of our current generation, but also our children 's future. Our government fails to look back at history and see how growth has improved our economy and made it flourish. Ultimately, what 's at stake here if nothing is done is our jobs, job benefits, our safety, and, overall, having a weak country whose currency is based off of its own good name. By no means is having a high

In 2009 the debt was amounted to about $12 trillion , or 83.4 percent of the country’s GDP (“Budget of the United States Government: Historical Tables Fiscal Year 2011” table 7.1). Since 2003, the debt has been increasing by more than $500 billion annually. The increase in 2009 was $1.9 trillion. According to the Congressional Budgeting Office, this debt will keep increasing at least for the next decade (“The Budget and Economic Outlook : Fiscal Years 2010 to 2020” 21).

The U.S. government borrows large sums of money in times of national emergency, such as times of war. The U.S. entered many wars that greatly contributed to the national debt. The government also engaged in multiple social programs that increased the debt, such as the bailouts during the housing crisis in 2008-2009. To keep the economy from collapsing, the government borrowed enormous amounts of money. Half way through this housing crisis the deficit exceeded one trillion dollars. The deficit decreased to under $500 billion after the massive spending cuts deal in 2011.

The projected Unites States budget deficit for fiscal year 2017 is a staggering $559 billion dollars. A budget deficit occurs when the government spends more than it receives in revenue over a specific period of time (Schiller, Hill, & Wall, 2013, p. 251). Currently the US government runs on a fiscal year (FY) which begins October 1st each year. The projected rate of 2017’s deficit is 17.6 % of expected revenues of $3.4 trillion which is only slightly lower than FY 2016. The 2016 deficit represented 3.2 % of gross domestic product (GDP) rising from 2.4% in FY 2015 (Congressional Budget Office, 2017). If the average American household

A budget deficit is a shortfall of tax revenue from government spending. A budget deficit is an indicator of financial health in which expenditures exceed revenue. The term budget deficit is most commonly used to refer to government spending rather than business or individual spending, but can be applied to these entities. When referring to accrued federal government deficits, the deficits are referred to as the national debt. A budget deficit is recognized, current expenses exceed the amount of income being received through standard operations. To correct a budget deficit, the nation may need to cut back on certain expenses or increase revenue-generating activities, or employ a

To really understand deficit spending think about it in simpler terms, like, the budgeting of your check book. If you have $100.00 but want to spend $200.00 you will need to make the decision: do you not make the purchase or do you borrow the money by maybe using credit? A consideration to remember is how borrowing that money will have an effect on your overall budget. Not only will you have the initial $100.00 difference to repay but also the interest that goes along with repaying that money. Deficit spending is when a nation 's government needs to spend in excess of its overall revenue and instead of raising taxes it borrows the funds needed. This can lead to many advantages and disadvantages for the country 's economy and is a concern that can lead to debates on whether deficit spending is the correct course of action for a nation 's budget or raising taxes.

Government budget deficit is the measure of how much the government overspends in a year. This can be found by finding the difference between government spending and government revenue. Public debt however, is the cumulative total of all budget deficits, past and present.

This paper will attempt to answer the question: Is the federal deficit and government deficits in general a good or a bad thing? While it may be easy to lose sight of how the government chooses to handle its money, it is also important for citizens to be conscious of how their money is being spent, and whether or not the current course that the government is plotted on is either sustainable or the best allocation of resources.

Throughout most of the country’s history, the United States’ federal government maintained a reasonable level of national debt. For example, the total national debt in 1981 was $998 billion. Since then, however, the government has generated significant budget deficits, and the level of debt has risen to $16.7 trillion in 2013 (Calleo, 39). Budget deficits are caused

In the last year the United States has painfully reached the net public debt to GDP ratio of 100 percent. This would be the federal government’s accumulated debt that is equal or has actually surpassed the United States Gross Domestic Product in 2010. After the debt ceiling limit was passed, the Treasury borrowed $238 billion in 2010. This brought public debt to $14.58 trillion dollars, slightly higher than the United States GDP in 2010, which was $14.54

Economists generally agree that high budget deficits today will result in the reduction of the growth rate of the economy in the future. The United States budgetary situation has disintegrated significantly since 2001, when the CBO ( Congressional Budget Office ) forecast average annual surpluses of nearly $850 billion from 2009 – 2012. In April of 2011, it was revealed that our nation is 12.7 trillion dollars in debt which surpasses by a wide margin, the 2001 CBO forecast of a cumulative surplus by