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How California plans to solve its large budget deficit

Jan 12, 2024
It's not the only state with a problem.
Earlier this week, California Governor Gavin Newsom released a plan to offset a nearly $38 billion budget deficit.
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Federal Reserve losses contribute to federal deficit

Oct 24, 2023
When the central bank makes money, it hands it to the Treasury. But now it's losing money as it pays interest to banks on their deposits.
The Fed is, among other things, a bank for banks, and it pays interest to those banks. Those interest rates have gone up. Above, the Eccles building, which houses Fed governors' offices.
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Why the U.S. budget deficit grew so much in the last year

No surprise: Inflation, higher interest rates and the pandemic all play a role.
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What would it take to balance the federal budget?

Feb 8, 2023
You need the courage to make cuts, the wisdom to negotiate and luck, says Linda Bilmes, who worked in the Clinton administration.
In the last half-century, only two presidents have balanced the federal budget: Lyndon Johnson and Bill Clinton, above with Vice President Al Gore.
Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images

Biden faces economic obstacles beyond the pandemic's burdens

The list includes dwindling trust funds for Social Security and Medicare and potential bubbles in the housing and stock markets.
Biden will confront "headwinds unlike those that have ever been faced by any modern president," says Eugene Steuerle of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.
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Congress isn't just wrestling with a coronavirus relief package — it has a budget to pass, too

Aug 5, 2020
Congress has to fund the government for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1 — and it's slow going.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell after the funeral of Rep. John Lewis in Washington, D.C.
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Breaking down the national debt and budget deficit

Oct 1, 2019
It's a new fiscal year for America. Let's look at our debt.
The National Debt Clock, a billboard-sized digital display showing the increasing U.S. debt, in New York City in 2011.
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The budget deficit last topped $1 trillion in 2012, a very different time

Sep 13, 2019
Back then, the economy was struggling its way out of recession. Now? Not so much.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced Thursday the government deficit has topped $1 trillion for the first time in seven years. Above, the Treasury Department building in Washington, D.C.
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We're heading toward trillion-dollar deficits. Here are 5 things you need to know.

Apr 10, 2018
The Congressional Budget Office says deficits will nearly equal GDP by 2028. That can't be good, right?
The early morning sun strikes the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. 
Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Should you worry about the national debt?

Feb 16, 2018
We have short-term focus but a long-term problem.
Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney testifies before the Senate Budget Committee Tuesday on the 2019 budget proposal released the day before.
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