Number: RS22550
Title: The Federal Budget: Sources of the Movement from Surplus to Deficit
Authors: Marc Labonte, Government and Finance Division 
Abstract: The federal budget moved from a surplus of $128 billion in 2001 to a deficit of $413 billion in 2004. In 2007, the deficit equaled $163 billion. This report compares the actual budget balance from 2001 to 2007 to the projection made by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in January 2001 to determine what factors caused the budget to move from surplus to deficit. Actual results differed from CBO's projection for three reasons: legislative policy changes, economic changes, and technical changes. Over the past seven years as a whole, legislative changes accounted for about two-thirds of the cumulative shift from projected surplus to deficit. The largest legislative changes that increased the deficit were tax cuts and the increase in military spending in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Pages: 5
Date: November 8, 2007