A TRILLION HERE, A TRILLION THERE

US 'faces future of chronic deficits' (Peronet Despeignes, May 28 2003, Financial Times)

The Bush administration has shelved a report commissioned by the Treasury that shows the US currently faces a future of chronic federal budget deficits totalling at least $44,200bn in current US dollars.

But the Bush administration chose to keep the findings out of the annual budget report for fiscal year 2004, published in February, as the White House campaigned for a tax-cut package that critics claim will expand future deficits.

The study asserts that sharp tax increases, massive spending cuts or a painful mix of both are unavoidable if the US is to meet benefit promises to future generations. It estimates that closing the gap would require the equivalent of an immediate and permanent 66 per cent across-the-board income tax increase.

The study was being circulated as an independent working paper among Washington think-tanks as President George W. Bush on Wednesday?signed into law a 10-year, $350bn tax-cut package he welcomed as a victory for hard-working Americans and the economy.

$44 Trillion is only four years of GDP--that's chump change. The wife and I, having both been to grad school, have at times owed as much as ten times our annual income. What's the big deal? Posted by Orrin Judd at May 29, 2003 12:21 AM