![]() ![]() Those deficits are smaller than the ones the country is facing today. The 2009 fiscal year represented a huge jump in the deficit, partly because of the massive stimulus program to jumpstart the cratering economy. The situation largely tracks if you use real dollars. Using the same comparison with Congressional Budget Office figures, the deficit fell from $1.4 trillion in the 2009 fiscal year to $486 billion in the 2014 fiscal year - a drop of about 66 percent.Įxperts told us that while Obama's math may be correct, it's missing some important caveats.įirst, it's important to note that the deficit swelled in 2009 (hence the steady drop). In 2008, the deficit was $458 billion, or 3.1 percent of GDP. The 2014 shortfall is 2.8 percent of GDP - a decrease of 71 percent. In fiscal year 2009, which started almost four months before Obama's presidency began and ended eight months into it, the deficit was 9.8 percent of GDP. The White House sent us this chart, which relies on data from the White House Office of Management and Budget. Economists told us this is a valid way of analyzing the deficit, because it factors in the economy’s change over time. The White House is breaking down the deficit as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, and not actual dollars. To back up his claim, Obama is comparing his first budget year in office - 2009 - to 2014. ![]() The national debt, which exceeds $18 trillion, is the net of annual deficits minus any annual surpluses. ![]() The country’s annual deficit is the difference between what the government collects in revenues and spends in one year. Is he right about the deficit dropping by two-thirds?Īs a reminder, don’t get the deficit twisted with the debt. "At every step, we were told our goals were misguided or too ambitious that we would crush jobs and explode deficits," Obama said. "Instead, we’ve seen the fastest economic growth in over a decade, our deficits cut by two-thirds, a stock market that has doubled, and health care inflation at its lowest rate in fifty years." Obama is super-pumped about that. He made a point to brag about the deficit's drop in his 2015 State of the Union address. When President Barack Obama reflects on 2014, he brings up a litany of highlights that include drawing down the Afghanistan war and Americans signing up for health insurance thanks to his health care law. ![]()
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