This Is What a Government Going Broke Looks Like

Do you ever get
the impression that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is trying
to tell us something?

The CBO publishes numeous reports on matters financial regarding
the government. Many of the recent ones have been full of fairly
downbeat verbiage, with the word “unsustainable” appearing
a lot. As in, the federal government spends a whole lot more money
than it collects, and that continuing nasty habit is
unsustainable.

But we’re simple folk. People of the land. You know, morons. So,
the CBO releases its
information in picture-book format, too (they nicely call it an
“infographic”).

Take a look at the image at the above right. It shows 2013
revenues at $2.8 trillion, and spending at $3.5 trillion.

There’s a gap between those numbers. It’s a big gap. And while
it varies in size, it appears year after year with little respite.
(Click image for full-size version.)

And because the federal government keeps spending more than it
takes in, year after year, federal debt has “reached 72% of GDP,
the highest level in more than 60 years. Such debt could have
serious negative consequences, including restraining long-term
economic growth, giving policymakers less flexibility to respond to
unexpected challenges, and eventually increasing the risk of a
fiscal crisis,” as the CBO puts it.

And the government can’t start paying that down while continuing
to spend more than it takes in.

But wait! Let’s try the whole thing in pictures. Scary
pictures. (Click image for full-size version.)