The Facts About Budget Deficits: How The Presidents Truly Rank

Forbes ^ | 07/12/2012 | James Glassman

[SeekAndFind]

Please forgive me. Over and over, I hear misinformation about deficits in prior administrations, and I can’t keep quiet any longer. I have to correct the record.

The latest was on “Squawk Box” on Monday morning. Joe Kernan, the host, is interviewing former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, ex-candidate for president and chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Kernen cites campaign comments about “bad policies” going back “decades” affecting the high rate of unemployment today.

He asks, “What specific policies in the Bush Administration do you think are still being used to explain 8 percent unemployment?”

Dean responds, “The biggest ones are the deficits that were run up…. The deficits were enormous

Let’s shed some factual light on the situation by turning to table B-79 of the current Economic Report of the President. There we find the official statistics on federal spending, receipts, and deficits (or surpluses) as proportions of Gross Domestic Product. These are the figures that economists use in determining the relationship of the deficit to the overall economy, answering the question, “How much more are we spending than taking in?”

[SeekAndFind]

They use three sets of calculations for each president: first, the deficit-to-GDP ratio from the fiscal year he took office to the fiscal year he left minus one (thus, for Reagan: 1981-88); second, from his first fiscal year plus one to the fiscal year he left (thus, 1982-89); and third, an average of the first two

Here are the ratios of deficit to GDP for the past five presidents:

Ronald Reagan
1981-88 4.2 %
1982-89 4.2
Average 4.2

George H. W. Bush
1989-92 4.0
1990-93 4.3
Average 4.2

Bill Clinton
1993-2000 0.8
1994-2001 0.1
Average 0.5

George W. Bush
2001-08 2.0
2002-09 3.4
Average 2.7

Barack Obama
2009-12* 9.1
2010-12 8.7
Average 8.9
*fiscal 2012 ends Sept. 30, 2012, so this figure is estimated

Source: Economic Report of the President, February 2012

CONCLUSION:

Americans can judge for themselves whether deficits are “enormous”– but only if they have the facts. In this case, there is no denying the order in which the last five presidents rank on the basis of deficits: Clinton, Bush 43, Bush 41 and Reagan in a virtual tie, and Obama.

[BenLurkin]

And we’ve had some truly rank Presidents.

[econjack]

The GOP needs to get this data into the hands of every voter in the land. Obozo has ridden the Blame Bush bandwagon far too long.

[al_c]

bump for later reference.

[rlmorel]

ping for later.

This looks great. Thanks for posting it.

[Pining_4_TX]

The Dems in Congress are the ones who created much of this deficit. In Obama, they have found their kindred spirit.

[mjp]

[arderkrag]

There are some libs who are going to have fits when I post this on fb.

[faucetman]

As I have said many, many times, the biggest problem we face, the root cause of all our other problems, is THE MAIN STREAM MEDIA! When are we going to go after the fundamental problem of our republic?

THEY ARE THE ENEMY. An all out WAR must be launched against them. They will fall like a house of cards if we would just confront them with their bias and their lies, half truths, and omissions.

While Rush, Hannity, Beck, Levin, Faux News all help, they are just voices crying in the wilderness.

Pew Research Center....

“The Internet is slowly closing in on television as Americans’ main source of national and international news. Currently, 41% say they get most of their news about national and international news from the Internet, which is little changed over the past two years but up 17 points since 2007. *****Television remains the most widely used source for national and international news – 66% of Americans say it is their main source of news *****– but that is down from 74% three years ago and 82% as recently as 2002.” http://www.people-press.org/2011/01/04/internet-gains-on-television-as-publics-main-news-source/

(emphasis mine)

[Sergio]

bkmk

[zeestephen]

I prefer to see government spending and deficits expressed as inflation adjusted dollars per capita.

GDP is a moving target, and expressing spending and deficits as a percentage of GDP is less helpful.

And, I think people often use the GDP comparison to justify more spending and more deficits.