The U.S. government is without doubt facing great challenges, among which the debt dilemma is the
biggest test.
The 1.42 trillion dollars federal budget imbalance of the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30 announced
Friday is a so-called better-than-expected result. The figure, which tripled last year’s record,
deserves close attention.
As a proportion of the economy, the deficit accounts for about 10 percent, the highest it has been
since the World War II. Earlier this year, the government had projected the ratio might reach about
12 percent.
For fiscal year 2009, the government collected 2.1 trillion dollars in revenues, a 16.6 percent drop
from 2008, while government spending last year jumped to 3.52 trillion dollars, up 18.2 percent over
2008.
In its statement Friday, the Treasury Department estimated deficits would total 9.1 trillion dollars
over the next decade unless corrective action was taken.