Current Government Expenditures versus Receipts

05-20-2011 • EconomicPolicyJournal.com

In a discussion on the comparison between household budgets and government budgets, Bob Murphy runs this very informative chart and adds: Even while Presidents Bush and Obama both acknowledged that excessive leverage and overconsumption were problems during the housing bubble years, and even as revenues plunged, this is what happened to spending on their respective watches. To me the chart dramatically shows just how far the government is from serious budget control. In my world, a first step would be to see the blue line (expenditures) fall below the red line (receipts), while preventing any increase in the red line. Does anybody think that is going to happen on a current basis versus some Alice in Wonderland forecast for a balanced budget 10 years out?