Published February 11, 2016
American Governance
The term federal budget deficit refers to a shortfall in the US federal budget. The federal debt is the total amount owed to creditors; the federal deficit is the shortfall of revenue receipts below spending outlays during any period (such as a year), and thus the amount by which the debt increases during that period.
Click here (PDF) to access the rest of EPPC Lehrman Fellow in Economics John Mueller’s article “Federal Budget Deficit” from American Governance (2016).
