A good Read
Stephen Bloch is an associate professor of Mathmatics and computer Science. He specializes in Computational complexity, design and analysis of algorithms, logic, computer programming pedagogy
Ph.D. Mathematics, Univ. California San Diego (1992)
B.S. Math and Computer Science, Virginia Tech (1986)
http://home.adelphi.edu/sbloch/deficits.htmlSome of the highlights -
The single best predictor of deficits for most of the century has been war.
The first two full fiscal years of the Obama presidency saw unprecedented decreases in deficits: more in two years, after adjusting for inflation, than in Truman's eight years, and twice as much as in Clinton's eight years. That trend did not continue in the third year, which saw an insignificant decrease in deficits.
The first seven years of the G.W. Bush presidency increased the deficit by over twice as much as the 32 years from JFK through G.H.W.Bush combined, and somewhat more than the 24 years from Harding through FDR combined (in inflation-adjusted dollars).
If one includes fiscal year 2008-2009 as part of the G.W. Bush administration (consistent with my treatment of all other administrations), that administration oversaw 3.5 times as much increase in Federal budget deficits as Presidents Kennedy through G.H.W.Bush put together.
Republican Presidents seem to rack up the big debts, at least in my lifetime. Democratic Presidents tend to be "troughs" in the above graph, relative to their Republican successors and predecessors. On the other hand, the only two Presidents in this table to actually run an average surplus (in the Roaring Twenties) were both Republicans, and the Obama administration, in its first three fiscal years, was still running enormous deficits (albeit smaller than in the transitional year
The first three years of B.H. Obama accrued almost as much total debt as the first seven years of G.W. Bush, which was more than eight years of Reagan, and half again as much as twelve years of FDR. If you include 2008-2009, the 8-year G.W. Bush administration accrued almost as much total debt as the 8-year Reagan administration and the 12-year FDR administration combined. The biggest accrued-debt-per-year figures are associated with B.H. Obama, G.W. Bush, G.H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, FDR, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter, in that order.
Again, Truman is an outlier: he took office in the middle of World War II, which immediately followed the Great Depression. The Federal government was running an enormous annual deficit in his first year, so it would have been remarkable if it
hadn't decreased during his term. FDR presided over most of the Great Depression, initiated many expensive government programs to fight it, and presided over the beginning of World War II.
Likewise, Obama took office in the middle of, by far, the biggest-deficit year in history, dealing with two wars and the most severe recession since the 1930's; it would have been remarkable if the deficit
hadn't decreased during his term. In Obama's case, the deficit decreased dramatically in his first two years, but was almost unchanged in his third.
Want to rack up huge deficits , start a war with Americas credit card.
Semper Fi
