The Amazing Shrinking Deficit
Posted at 9:45 a.m. on Nov. 21, 2012
“Believe it or not, the federal deficit has fallen faster over the past three years than it has in any such stretch since demobilization from World War II,” Investor’s Business Daily reports.
“If U.S. history offers any guide, we are already testing the speed limits of a fiscal consolidation that doesn’t risk backfiring. That’s why the best way to address the fiscal cliff likely is to postpone it… In fact, a number of so-called deficit hawks are calling for short-term tax cuts to spur growth, rather than immediate austerity. From fiscal 2009 to fiscal 2012, the deficit shrank 3.1 percentage points, from 10.1% to 7.0% of GDP.”
