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Article: The budget surplus.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- February 12, 2000
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Calm down
WASHINGTON, DC
THE opening shots in America's budget battle were formally fired this week when President Bill Clinton presented his fiscal proposals to Congress on February 7th. Although the budget is an annual process, there is more at stake today than simply sorting out how much the federal government taxes and spends next year. This is, after all, an election year. And American politicians believe they are on the cusp of an era of burgeoning fiscal surpluses. What to do with these surpluses--increase spending, cut taxes, pay down debt?--is the big question.
Two different concepts of surplus are important in American politics, and ...