American Government / Unit 10 Gov 458 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Deficit and the Debt
Captions available
The idea
The deficit is the annual amount by which expenditures exceed revenues; the debt is the total the government owes across all years.
In practice
Each year's deficit is a new layer; the debt is the whole stack.
Where people slip
The budget balanced only briefly, from 1998 to 2000 — deficit is the usual state.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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