Moments ago the US Treasury reported the budget deficit picture for December and it will come as no surprise to anyone that the US has continued to spend like a drunken sailor, or rather, even more.
As shown in the chart below, in the month of December, the US collected $429 billion through various taxes, while total outlays hit $559 billion... ... resulting in a December deficit of $129.4 billion.
This may not sound like a lot, but December is actually one of those months when the US deficit is relatively tame, or used to be.
As shown in the next chart, traditionally the December deficit was barely in the $10-20BN range... until 2020 when it exploded to an all time high of $140BN. And while it dropped sharply in 2021, it rebounded dramatically in 2022, and rose to just shy of the December crisis high last month! Here is some more context: tax receipts of $429.3BN in December were down 5.6% from the $454.9BN in December 2022 and down a whopping 11.8% from December 2021.
Looking at outlays, unlike tax receipts, there is danger of a decline... ever; and indeed in December the US spent a total of $559 billion, up 3.5% from the $540BN spent a year ago, and up even more from the $508BN in 2021.
As for the final, and most shocking, data point, the December budget deficit of $129.4 billion was more than $40BN higher than the $87.5BN median estimate, and was more than 50% higher compared to the $85BN December deficit in fiscal 2022.
We can't wait to see what really happens to the budget deficit over the next 10 years.
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