The Federal Deficit Versus the National Debt

The Federal Deficit Versus the National Debt

• The federal deficit is a flow variable measuring the amount by which expenditures exceed revenues in a particular year
• The national debt is a stock variable measuring the accumulation of past deficits
• In the U.S., it took 200 years for the national debt to reach $1 trillion
  • After the debt reached this level, it took only 15 years for the debt to reach the $5 trillion level

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