Chart of the week: US deficit
7 May 2020: Public finances around the world are being severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic, with the United States being no exception.
These are substantially larger than the deficits experienced a decade ago during the financial crisis, reflecting a combination of a massive shock to the US economy and a series of large scale fiscal interventions on an unprecedented scale.
The CBO prediction is heavily caveated given the prospect of further fiscal interventions and the potential for a second wave of infection in the fall, so watch this space for further developments in the increasingly topical subject of accounting for governments.