SOURCES: Data from the Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the United Stated Government: Fiscal Year 2013, Historical Tables, February 2012; Congressional Budget Office, Updated Budget Projections: Fiscal Years 2012 to 2022; March 2012; and the Historical Statistics of the United States, Millennial Edition Online, Cambridge 2006. Compiled by PGPF.
© The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, 2011.
Debt and deficits naturally rise during times of economic stress and fall during times of economic prosperity. However, as shown in this chart, the largest deficits of the last 200 years have occurred during times of war. The deficit projected for 2012 is $1.2 trillion, or 7.6 percent of GDP.
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