FY09 deficit could reach
$900 b. (6.2% of GDP) depending upon how the financial rescue is scored. Over the weekend, I took a very rough cut at where
the deficit and public debt may be headed, assuming that Treasury completes
$1.2 b. of financial rescue under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of
2008 by the end of 2009. These estimates depend crucially upon my assumption
that approximately 31% of Treasuries gross debt issuance will ultimately fall
upon taxpayers. That derives from the Resolution Trust Corporation's
experience during the 1990s. According to the Government
Accountability Office, the RTC purchased $402 b. of S&L assets and sold
them for $240 b. a few years later. The taxpayers paid $124.6 b. of the
difference. Until we have actual data from Treasury on reverse auctions
and on capital injections, that's what I'm assuming. CBO and OMB disagree
on how to score the net present value of the EESA program. Any final
figures will depend upon those scoring decisions. CBO's scorekeeping
letter on EESA, H.R.1424, is worth reading. I start off with CBO's
latest estimates of September 9 for comparison, BUT they do note include any
cost or already completed Treasury financing under EESA.
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/98xx/doc9852/hr1424Dodd.pdf
http://www.gao.gov/archive/1996/ai96123.pdf
CBO's September 9, 2008 Update $-billion, fiscal years
|
|
|
|
|
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
|
Deficit (-) Surplus |
-161 |
-407 |
-438 |
-431 |
|||
|
%GDP |
-1.2 |
-2.9 |
-3.0 |
-2.8 |
|||
|
Public Debt |
5,035 |
5,425 |
5,870 |
6,319 |
|||
|
%GDP |
36.9 |
38.2 |
39.9 |
40.8 |
|||
|
GDP |
13,642 |
14,210 |
14,719 |
15,473 |
|||
My Very Rough Illustrative Estimate
|
|
|
|
|
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
|
Deficit (-) Surplus |
-161 |
-438 |
-900 |
-800 |
|||
|
%GDP |
-1.2 |
-3.1 |
-6.2 |
-5.3 |
|||
|
Public Debt |
5,035 |
5,809 |
6,800 |
7,700 |
|||
|
%GDP |
36.9 |
40.9 |
47.1 |
50.8 |
|||
|
GDP |
13,642 |
14,210 |
14,425 |
15,164 |
|||
I assumed that Treasury would spend all $700 b. of the EESA and $200 b. of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailout plus another $300 b. for other bailouts by the end of calendar 2009 and that $400 b. of that would score as an outlay. I reduced GDP by 2% points in FY09 and level adjusted in FY10. I must emphasize this is only an informed guess at this point until we have more information.
$438 b. FY08 deficit expected to be announced by OMB at 2 PM tomorrow. At 2 PM Tuesday, the Office of Management and Budget will announce the official federal deficit for Fiscal Year 2008. Last week, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the FY08 deficit would be $438 b. http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/98xx/doc9818/10-2008-MBR.pdf

Leverage
Leverage worked so well for Big Finance, it should work even better for government.
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