The Budget Debate in 6 Simple Graphics

The federal budget is incomprehensibly large: $3.5 trillion to fund everything from benefits payments to courts to cops to education to research. There are hundreds of ways to slice it up, but some of the simplest come from the nonpartisan agency in charge of analyzing the budget, the Congressional Budget Office.

Here are six graphics CBO Director Doug Elmendorf used in a recent lecture to students at Harvard University, along with how they help to understand the nation’s fiscal situation.

How Serious Is the Debt Problem?

There’s a heated debate over how much debt is too much, but most agree that the long-term trajectory is not good. The debt is expected to rise, fall and rise again before the decade is out. It's high, but not high enough to describe as an immediate crisis–at least not according to House Speaker John Boehner, Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan or President Obama. In the longer term, however, the debt is expected to balloon. Read more...

More about Us Government, Economy, Budget, White House, and Debt
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