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Trillion Dollar Deficit

The U.S. deficit passed the trillion dollar mark for the first time ever this year. What does that number mean to the economy? NBR's Darren Gersh gets the answer to that question and finds out if financial experts think America is carrying too much debt. Watch the story in tonight's program. Learn more here.



Discuss this story on XChange - The NBR Blog.

Related NBR Stories & Links

• 03-03-09: "XChange, The NBR Blog" - The National Debt Approaches 100% of GDP
• 01-07-09: 2009 May be the Year of the Trillion Dollar Deficit
• 08-04-08: "Commentary" - Defeating the Deficit
• 07-11-07: Office of Management and Budget Director Rob Portman Offers His Outlook for the Deficit

External Links/Articles*

• Brookings
  Brookings is a nonprofit public policy research organization. This links to a July 8, 2009 Op/Ed authored by Gale of Brookings and Alen Auerback of University of California, Berkely. The article is titled, "Here Comes the Next Fiscal Crisis." It includes a discussion of the long-term impact of "larger deficits and faster debt accumulation."
• The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB)
  The CRFB is "a bipartisan, non-profit organization committed to educating the public about issues that have significant fiscal policy impact." The committee's president, Maya MacGuineas, is interviewed in Darren Gersh's report. One of the CRFB's projects is U.S. Budget Watch.
• Frontline
  This links to information about the PBS Frontline documentary, "Ten Trillion and Counting." The program originally aired in March 2009.
• TreasuryDirect
  TreasuryDirect is a website of the U.S. Department of Treasury, Bureau of Public Debt. This links to the "Debt to the Penny and Who Holds It" section of the website. In addition to offering information about the current national debt, the site also offers historical debt data.
• White House(PDF Document)
  This links to summary tables detailing the "Budget of the U.S. Government for Fiscal Year 2010." The document is published by the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

*Clicking these external links will take you off the NBR web site on PBS.org. NBR has no affiliation with these sites.