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Much like a person or a corporation, the United States government uses money for its operations; meaning that it has both income and expenses. The income of the United States is derived from various taxes and fees and the expenses are what the U.S. government pays out for national defense, highways, social welfare programs, and various other programs.
In an election year, the average citizen is apt to hear a great deal of talk about income, taxes, spending, and more importantly budget deficits and the national debt. Given all of the talk, one may come to think that budget deficits and the national debt are one in the same. While the two do go hand-in-hand, it is important to understand that they are two separate things.
InvestorWords.com defines a budget deficit as the amount by which a government, company, or individual's spending exceeds its income over a particular period of time.
To remain within the limits of one’s income would create a budget surplus; something the United States has done only in one year since 1970 (Adamson, 2008). National debt, on the other hand, is the sum of all previously incurred annual federal deficits. Since the deficits are financed by government borrowing, national debt is equal to all government debt outstanding.
Whenever the U.S. has a deficit year, money is borrowed to pay for the deficit. Deficits are not a new concept as far as our nation’s history is concerned. Deficits were incurred during and after WWI. Then the country enjoyed a decade of annual budget surpluses until the Great Depression; and WWII only made it worse. The country never quite returned to the concept of living within its means since tha ...