Bad news on the US economic front.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

For some of us, that is.

Woo-Hoo! Go Obama!

US Budget Deficit Shrinks Far Faster Than Expected
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Published: Wednesday, 15 May 2013 | 3:20 AM ET
By: Annie Lowrey

Since the recession ended four years ago, the federal budget deficit has topped $1 trillion every year. But now the government's annual deficit is shrinking far faster than anyone in Washington expected, and perhaps even faster than many economists think is advisable for the health of the economy.
That is the thrust of a new report released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, estimating that the deficit for this fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30, will fall to about $642 billion, or 4 percent of the nation's annual economic output, about $200 billion lower than the agency estimated just three months ago.

The agency forecast that the deficit, which topped 10 percent of gross domestic product in 2009, could shrink to as little as 2.1 percent of gross domestic product by 2015 — a level that most analysts say would be easily sustainable over the long run — before beginning to climb gradually through the rest of the decade.

"Revenues have been strong as the economy has outperformed a bit," said Joel Prakken, a founder of Macroeconomic Advisers, a forecasting firm based in St. Louis.

Over all, the figures demonstrate how the economic recovery has begun to refill the government's coffers. At the same time, Washington, despite its political paralysis, has proved remarkably successful at slashing the deficit through a variety of tax increases and cuts in domestic and military programs.

Perhaps too successful. Given that the economy continues to perform well below its potential and that unemployment has so far failed to fall below 7.5 percent, many economists are cautioning that the deficit is coming down too fast, too soon.

"It's good news for the budget deficit and bad news for the jobs deficit," said Jared Bernstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-of-center research group in Washington. "I'm more worried about the latter."

Others, however, are warning that the deficit — even if it looks manageable over the next decade — still remains a major long-term challenge, given that rising health care spending on the elderly and debt service payments are projected to eat up a bigger and bigger portion of the budget as the baby boom generation enters retirement.
....

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100736988

and:

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/ ... s-up-speed

[pErvinalia]

Fucking Obama!

[klr]

So, sequestering most of the armed forces is obviously having the desired budgetary affect then?

[pErvinalia]

More seriously, though... How can a deficit be "sustainable over the long run"?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

More seriously, though... How can a deficit be "sustainable over the long run"?

Simple enough. If the deficit is too high we crash. So a low deficit is desirable. According to my macroeconomic instructor at Purdue a zero deficit is not always desirable for reasons I forgot before the test.

[pErvinalia]

What? How can losing money be sustainable. The deficit/surplus is the difference between revenue and spending.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

What? How can losing money be sustainable. The deficit/surplus is the difference between revenue and spending.

Stimulus ... mumble ... economic growth ... more mumble ... end return greater than deficit ... last mumble.

[Tyrannical]

What? How can losing money be sustainable. The deficit/surplus is the difference between revenue and spending.

Stimulus ... mumble ... economic growth ... more mumble ... end return greater than deficit ... last mumble.

Those are yearly deficit numbers, and not accumulated deficits.

[Rum]

Shortly also to be net exporter of oil due to shale (mixed blessing there..)

[cronus]

The oil is immaterial to the coming crash. Rome did not fall for want of horses. It fell because it allowed a civilized culture to be swamped by barbarian ethics and imported tat from brutal slave economies further down the Tigres. People lost faith in it and it lost everything in due course. Save a bookmark in the history books of fallen civilizations.

[Rum]

Fuck off.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The oil is immaterial to the coming crash. Rome did not fall for want of horses. It fell because it allowed a civilized culture to be swamped by barbarian ethics and imported tat from brutal slave economies further down the Tigres. People lost faith in it and it lost everything in due course. Save a bookmark in the history books of fallen civilizations.

One-for-one congruence then?

[Rum]

Some people grow up to believe any attention, however negative, is better than no attention at all I suppose.

[laklak]

Wish I could run a deficit with an ever increasing total debt. Hang on, if I could print my own money that's exactly what I could do! Gotta get that new printer.

[mistermack]

More seriously, though... How can a deficit be "sustainable over the long run"?

Simple enough. If the deficit is too high we crash. So a low deficit is desirable. According to my macroeconomic instructor at Purdue a zero deficit is not always desirable for reasons I forgot before the test.

Shit, someone better warn the Chinese. They must be heading for the mother of all crashes, with their surplus.

Waste some fuckin money, quick, or else !!