The federal government ran an estimated budget deficit of $486 billion in fiscal year 2014, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) announced Wednesday -- $195 billion less than the shortfall recorded in fiscal year 2013, and the smallest deficit recorded since 2008.
Relative to the size of the economy, that deficit-at an estimated 2.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP)-was slightly below the average experienced over the past 40 years, and 2014 was the fifth consecutive year in which the deficit declined as a percentage of GDP since peaking at 9.8 percent in 2009.
For an Obama White House that's faced difficult headlines in recent months - on ISIS, Ebola, the conflict in Eastern Ukraine - this is welcome news, especially on a subject that was a key Republican talking point during the 2012 presidential contest.
First published October 8 2014, 9:19 AM
Mark MurrayMark Murray is the Senior Political Editor at NBC News, where he covers politics for the network, writes and edits its popular “First Read†blog, and appears daily on MSNBC and Washington DC’s NBC affiliate to discuss the latest political news. He also serves as a key manager of NBC’s political coverage, giving direction to the network’s reporters and producers. Before joining NBC News in 2003, Murray spent five years as a reporter at National Journal. And he has written freelance articles published in the New York Times (Sunday op-ed page), the Atlantic Monthly, the Washington Monthly, Washingtonian magazine, and Washington City Paper. Murray is a 1996 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin (B.A.), and he resides in Washington DC.
Posted by Unknown on Wednesday, October 8, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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