Budget 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. From 1970 to 1997, the United States Government ran significant deficits. By 1998, budget surpluses became common, lasting through 2001. 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.

Starve-the-beast strategies usually lead to high budget deficits.

Table of contents

1 Related Legislation 2 Related Pages 3 External Links

Related 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 Pages

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

External Links

• http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
• http://www.cbo.gov