We're Not One of Them. We're One of You.

At the Libertarian Institute, we feature independent intellectuals who strive to understand our world and communicate that understanding to you. We don’t work for Lockheed or K Street or Qatar. We work for you. Support the Libertarian Institute Today!

$1,540 of $60,000 raised

CBO Sees Federal Deficit And Debt Rising From Here

by | Jan 24, 2017

CBO Sees Federal Deficit And Debt Rising From Here

by | Jan 24, 2017

And It Really Shouldn’t Be This Way

The Congressional Budget Office has just released its latest projections of the Federal budget deficit and its contributions to the national debt. And the news isn’t good, not good at all. The deficit will start rising again soon enough and thus so will the debt. And the truth is that it really shouldn’t be this way at all. Right about now that budget should be roughly in balance and in the next few years, barring any extraordinary events, it should be in surplus with the national debt falling as a result.

The reason this isn’t happening is simply that the political class as a whole (and yes, here R can be quite as bad as D) are simply spendthrifts.

Federal deficits are expected to rise for the first time in nearly a decade, driving up the federal debt to almost unprecedented levels, according to an analysis from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

While the federal deficit is projected to drop in 2017 and 2018, CBO projects it will rise to $601 billion in 2019 thanks to rising Social Security and Medicare costs.

Note that the phrasing there doesn’t quite describe the total reality. Of course, the deficit was rather larger a few years back than it is now, they’re saying it’s going to rise again, not that it’s going to be bigger again. Quite why the deficit is going to rise again doesn’t in fact matter for my point:

After seven years of fitful declines, the federal budget deficit is projected to begin swelling again this decade, adding $8.6 trillion to the federal debt over the next 10 years, according to projections from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that reveal the strain that the government’s debt will have on the economy as President Trump embarks on plans to slash taxes and ramp up spending.

No, not good news:

The growing debt, expected to rise from 77 percent of the nation’s annual economic output today to 89 percent in 2027, or nearly $25 trillion, reflects “the weighty long-term budgetary challenges facing the nation,” according to the office.

Read the rest at Forbes.

Tim Worstall

Tim Worstall

View all posts

Our Books

Shop books published by the Libertarian Institute.

libetarian institute longsleeve shirt

Our Books

15 books

Recent Articles

Recent

TGIF: Emergency! Emergency?

TGIF: Emergency! Emergency?

Look, as a libertarian I think the list of federal entities to be abolished soon should include the: Consumer Financial Protection Board, Federal Trade Commission, Federal Communications Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Reserve System,...

read more
The War on Michael DiMino

The War on Michael DiMino

Ever since being named deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, Michael DiMino has found himself in the crosshairs. On January 22, conservative talk radio host Mark Levin, citing a tweet condemning the former CIA analyst’s critique of the “ironclad...

read more

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This