The flag is at half mast for the plight of the fading middle class and the millennials who will inherit the debt and the global warming crisis.
The federal budget deficit was $625 billion for the first five months of fiscal year 2020, CBO estimates. This is $80 billion more than the deficit recorded during the same period last year. Revenues and outlays alike were higher through February of this year—by 7% and 9%, respectively—than during the first five months of fiscal year 2019. The era of Trillion Dollar Deficits is now firmly in place with no end in sight. The open question is how much COVID-19, aka corona virus, will depress the world economy.
Outlays during the first five months of this year were raised slightly by shifts in the timing of certain payments that otherwise would have been due on March 1, which fell on a weekend. Those shifts increased outlays through February by $52 billion. CBO claims that without them, the outlay increase would have been 6% and the deficit for the first five months of 2020 would have been $572 billion, roughly $28 billion larger, rather than $80 billion larger, than the amount for the same period last year. This of course will all even out during the balance of the fiscal year.
Net interest on the public debt rose by $5 billion (or 17%), mostly because of a different rate of inflation. To account for inflation, the Treasury Department adjusts the principal of its inflation-protected securities each month by using the change in the consumer price index for all urban consumers (not seasonally adjusted) that was recorded two months earlier. Because that index (CPI-U NSA) decreased in December 2019, the adjustment reduced interest outlays by $1 billion in February 2020. That reduction was larger in February 2019—$4 billion—because the CPI-U NSA decreased by a larger amount in December 2018. The 7% increase in the amount of debt held by the public also contributed to higher interest costs.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Trump Deficit Growing: $625 Billion FYTD – $80B Higher YoY
The flag is at half mast for the plight of the fading middle class and the millennials who will inherit the debt and the global warming crisis.
The federal budget deficit was $625 billion for the first five months of fiscal year 2020, CBO estimates. This is $80 billion more than the deficit recorded during the same period last year. Revenues and outlays alike were higher through February of this year—by 7% and 9%, respectively—than during the first five months of fiscal year 2019. The era of Trillion Dollar Deficits is now firmly in place with no end in sight. The open question is how much COVID-19, aka corona virus, will depress the world economy.
Outlays during the first five months of this year were raised slightly by shifts in the timing of certain payments that otherwise would have been due on March 1, which fell on a weekend. Those shifts increased outlays through February by $52 billion. CBO claims that without them, the outlay increase would have been 6% and the deficit for the first five months of 2020 would have been $572 billion, roughly $28 billion larger, rather than $80 billion larger, than the amount for the same period last year. This of course will all even out during the balance of the fiscal year.
Net interest on the public debt rose by $5 billion (or 17%), mostly because of a different rate of inflation. To account for inflation, the Treasury Department adjusts the principal of its inflation-protected securities each month by using the change in the consumer price index for all urban consumers (not seasonally adjusted) that was recorded two months earlier. Because that index (CPI-U NSA) decreased in December 2019, the adjustment reduced interest outlays by $1 billion in February 2020. That reduction was larger in February 2019—$4 billion—because the CPI-U NSA decreased by a larger amount in December 2018. The 7% increase in the amount of debt held by the public also contributed to higher interest costs.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.