Access the most recent Financial Report of the U.S. Government at the U.S. Treasury Department Web site, www.fms.treas.gov/fr, and answer the following questions.
a. What are amounts of the total budget deficit and net operating cost for each of the three most recent fiscal years?
b. How do these two measures of federal government fiscal health differ?
c. What are the main factors that explain the three-year trend in each of these measures?
d. For the most recent fiscal year, identify the five largest components of the net cost of operations of the U.S. government?