Deficit

A budget deficit occurs when an entity, usually a government spends more money than it takes in. The opposite is a budget surplus. Budget deficits are important political issues. "Starve-the-beast" strategies usually lead to high budget deficits. Note that this is distinct from the larger national debt, which results from an accumulated deficit across a number of years.

Table of contents

1 The United States 1.1 Related U.S. legislation 1.2 Related articles 2 External links

The United States

From 1970 to 1997, the United States Government ran significant deficits. By 1998, budget surpluses became common, lasting through 2001; the U.S. deficit for fiscal year 2003 was $374.2 billion.

An issue about counting so-called "off-budget" items such as Social Security, which are presently running a large surplus, complicates discussion of budget deficits.

Related U.S. legislation

• 1984 - Deficit Reduction Act PL 98-369
• 1985 - Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Anti-Deficit Act PL 99-177
• 1987 - Omnibus Reconciliation Act PL100-203 PL 100-202
• 1990 - Omnibus Reconciliation Act PL 101-508
• 1993 - Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act PL 103-66
• 1997 - Omnibus Reconciliation Act PL 105-33

Related articles

• Office of Management and Budget
• Congressional Budget Office
• Starve-the-beast philosophy

External links

• U.S. Congressional Budget Office