The Budget Crisis in Congress's Head
The U.S. budget deficit is shrinking, though the fights set to take place in Congress are still framed by the huge fiscal shortfalls of years past.
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A year ago, it made sense to worry about the finances of the U.S. government. At the time, the Congressional Budget Office wasprojecting an unsustainable long-term budget deficit of 5 percent of gross domestic product.
And it made yet more sense two years ago, when the budget forecastssuggested the gap might be as high as 7 percent of GDP.