Posting this chart mostly because it shocked me. I knew the US budget deficit is falling, but I didn’t know it had fallen this fast or this far. Chart is deficit as a % of GDP. I am pretty confident that most Americans don’t know this either. I am extremely confident that most Republican primary voters will refuse to believe it even if/when it becomes common knowledge. Sort’ve like climate change… (grin).
Too bad we can’t think of anything to spend on using borrowed money at near-zero real interest rates. Except for crumbling bridges and fiber optics and other useless stuff like that….
Admittedly, the long-term structural deficit remains a more reasonable concern. But that requires a nuanced discussion and “nuanced discussion” and “deficit” just don’t seem to spend much time together these days.
