Sunday, May 27, 2012

Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics


The federal government calculates the deficit in a way that makes the number smaller than if standard accounting rules were followed (in trillions). Deficits are far worse than the Federal government reports, in other words. 


For only the fiscal year of 2011, the actual deficit was $5 trillion, not $1.3 trillion, as the executive branch reports. The same was true in 2010. 


Decades ago, some policy advocates would have argued that "deficits don't matter." These days, when governments at virtually every level, all over the world, are borrowing money to finance current deficits, that isn't true any longer. Deficits do matter, and everywhere. 





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