It's that monster US deficit again

david pauly

Upcoming US budget deficits put past cycles of spending excess in the shade

The US is headed for a run of annual budget deficits of about $500bn as it pays for tax cuts and increased health benefits at home and to fight terrorism and spread democracy abroad. Putting this into perspective, it would take oil giant Exxon Mobil 33 years to earn $500bn. Again, the record US budget deficit before this year was $290bn, in 1992. Yearly deficits of $500bn would double the US national debt in about 14 years. The interest on that debt is an overwhelming prospect just when most Americans have adjusted to the bursting of the equity bubble and when they figure deflation of t...