Deficit roughly 3.5% of USA's $14 trillion economy

[Tums]

White House projects record deficit for 2009

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/28/2009.deficit/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The White House on Monday predicted a record deficit of $490 billion for the 2009 budget year, a senior government official told CNN.

The deficit would amount to roughly 3.5 percent of the nation's $14 trillion economy.

The federal deficit is the difference between what the government spends and what it takes in from taxes and other revenue sources. The government must borrow money to make up the difference.

 

[thriftybob]

recalculate it as a percentage of production instead and the number is much higher because we consume so much more than we produce.

comparing it to the "size of the economy" is a way to distort its true size

 

[GTG]

Calculating it as a percentage of production doesn't work either, because then you are omitting the service portion of the economy.

 

[clacy]

I pretty much hate my government!

 

[Mercor]

Quote from clacy:

I pretty much hate my government!

I love my country. Where else can a goverment borrow 500 billion dollars and still have interest rates the lowest of most countries.

 

[CollegeTrader33]

Quote from Mercor:

I love my country. Where else can a goverment borrow 500 billion dollars and still have interest rates the lowest of most countries.

You can love your country and hate your government. Not mutually exclusive.

 

[gnome]

Federal Gummint spends 20-25% MORE than it takes in taxes on average.

Why? Who benefits? Who is harmed?

Answer those questions and you'll understand where your Gummint is "coming from"....