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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs
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To: Peter Dierks who wrote (32891)2/18/2009 11:46:16 AM
From: TimF  Read Replies (2) of 71588
 
In fiscal 2008, the national debt increased from $9 trillion to slightly over $10 trillion. Yet the budget deficit in the last fiscal year was officially reported as being $455 billion. How could the national debt have increased by considerably more than twice the "deficit"? Simple. Just call the money borrowed from the Social Security trust fund an "intragovernmental transfer" and exclude it from the calculation of the deficit.

Legitimately so, its a transfer of funds from the government to the government. I don't have a deficit if I transfer funds from the left pocket to my right, or from my savings account to my checking account.

But there should be an additional entries, beyond the official budget balance, for change in(and resultant amount of) estimated long term obligations (like the estimated additional obligation for future social security spending), and potential obligations (for example loan guarantees, all or part of which might need to be paid).
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