Go to the website of the Congressional Budget Office (www.cbo.gov) and find projections for the government budget deficit for the coming five years. Compare the size of the deficit and the full-employment deficit (which the CBO calls the budget deficit without automatic stabilizers) relative to potential GDP in those years, and compare your results to the history shown in Fig. 15.5. What macroeconomic or political factors have caused the changes you observe in the deficit measures?

Fig. 15.5

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10 00 Deficits (percent of full-employment GDP) 4 2 -2 ACTUAL DEFICIT FULL-EMPLOYMENT DEFICIT Year 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 -4 T