page_title: Deficit reduction in the United States
section_title: Spending or outlay proposals
hierarchical_section_title: Deficit reduction in the United States / Spending or outlay proposals
caption_attribution_description: English: U.S. Federal spending per capita, nominal and inflation adjusted Understanding the chart The chart shows U.S. federal spending per person. The data comes from FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) database. The following data illustrates the computation for 2000: Spending = $1,789.1 trillion (Data series: M318191A027NBEA) Population = 282.296 million (Data series: POP) Spend per capita nominal = $6,337.32 CPI index (excluding food &amp; energy) for 2013 = 234 and for 2000 it was 181 (Data series: CPILFESL) Spend per capita real = $6,337.32 * 234/181 = $8,193.[1]
context_page_description: Deficit reduction in the United States refers to taxation, spending, and economic policy debates and proposals designed to reduce the Federal budget deficit. Government agencies including the Government Accountability Office, Congressional Budget Office, the Office of Management and Budget, and the U.S. Treasury Department have reported that the federal government is facing a series of important long-run financing challenges, mainly driven by an aging population, rising healthcare costs per person, and rising interest payments on the national debt.
  CBO reported in July 2014 that the continuation of present tax and spending policies for the long-run results in a budget trajectory that causes debt to grow faster than GDP, which is "unsustainable." Further, CBO reported that high levels of debt relative to GDP may pose significant risks to economic growth and the ability of lawmakers to respond to crises. These risks can be addressed by higher taxes, reduced spending, or combination of both.
  The U.S. reported budget surpluses in only four years between 1970-2020, during fiscal years 1998-2001, the last four years budgeted by President Bill Clinton.
caption: U.S. spending per person from 1989 to 2013. The "Nominal" line indicates the actual amount spent per person during that year, while the "Real" (inflation adjusted) line represents 2013 dollars.
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