News
FOX News | US consumer borrowing up $19.6 billion in May; gains slow after sudden April acceleration
Overall credit rose by $19.6 billion in May, down from a gain of $26.1 billion in April, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday. The relatively modest increase should help to feed slow but steady economic growth, because consumers rely on debt to pay tuition, buy cars and shop.
Politico | Government made $100B in improper payments
By its own estimate, the government made about $100 billion in payments last year to people who may not have been entitled to receive them — tax credits to families that didn’t qualify, unemployment benefits to people who had jobs and medical payments for treatments that might not have been necessary.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Real Clear Markets | It's Always the Spending, Whether Borrowed or Taxed
Politics' perpetual question is whether America is over-spent or under-taxed. Ideologically contemplating this conundrum, it appears an almost unanswerable Zen-like question. However, its answer is not an unknowable philosophical problem, but a straightforward fiscal one. At its roots: spending has, is, and will continue to elude revenues - even as revenues climb.
CBO | Monthly Budget Review for June 2014
The federal government ran a budget deficit of $366 billion for the first nine months of fiscal year 2014, CBO estimates—$144 billion less than the shortfall recorded over the same span last year. Through the end of June, revenues were about 8 percent higher and outlays were about 1 percent higher than they were at the same point last year.
