WASHINGTON, DC – There is no argument that spending by the Federal government has reached a point of concern. Though Republicans have been expressing concern over the past year, Democrats are doing the same, mainly in the Senate with West Virginia’s Joe Manchin and Arizona’s Krysten Sinema.
While some may continue to argue about how the United States reached this point, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) explains that the budget deficit today (as of September 30, 2021) is about $360 billion less than the deficit at the end of 2020. But, unfortunately, it is also about three times as large as the end of the fiscal year 2019.
During the past two years, the CBO explains, “deficits were much larger than they have been historical because of the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic and legislation enacted in response.”
Before the pandemic (2019), the deficit was 4.7 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) but soared to a record 15 percent in 2020. At the end of the fiscal 2021 year, CBO says the deficit today is the second-largest since 1945, at 12.4 percent.
The better than expected news on the shrinking deficit is due to greater than anticipated income tax receipts, leading to a $231 billion improvement from previous CBO projections.
(SOURCE: All Ag News)
