Economists say the most significant measure of government deficits is to compare them to the gross domestic product. By that score, the flood of red ink in 2020 still blew past Obama's 2009 record, in which the deficit almost hit 10% of GDP. The CBO estimate is preliminary, based on daily Treasury reports, but is likely to match the official numbers due from Treasury and the White House budget office later this month. The COVID-related spike in the deficit obscures a smaller, steady rise in the deficit under President Donald Trump's watch. Trump in 2017 engineered a large tax cut whose 10-year cost has been matched by pandemic relief efforts over the past six months alone.

Source: Daily Sun October 08, 2020 20:26 UTC