OVER 7 Trillion Dollar Debt


Welcome to the National Budget Simulation!

This simple simulation should give you a better feel of the trade-offs which policy makers need to make in creating federal budgets and dealing with deficits.

The National Budget Simulation, originally a project of UC-Berkeley's Center for Community Economic Research, is now hosted at NathanNewman.org. It was created by Nathan Newman and Anders Schneiderman.

This simulation asks you to adjust spending and tax expenditures in the the 2004 budget proposed by the White House in order to achieve either a balanced budget or any other target deficit. In order to make the choices we face in the budget clearer, we assume that you make the adjustments all in one year. According to the White House, the 2004 fiscal deficit is projected to be $307 billion. This does not include the costs of the Iraq War, so it has been increased by a base estimate of $50 billion for those costs in this simulation (which can be increased, lowered or eliminated depending on peoples views of the costs or likelihood of the war.).

The Simulation also allows you to adjust the costs of the 2001 and proposed 2003 tax cuts, either cutting or cancelling them to raise revenue, or increasing them to create larger tax cuts. It also allows you to increase or decrease tax expenditures, also known as tax deductions, credits or "loopholes."

  • Why this simulation uses a one-year budget rather than projections over a number of years.
  • How to play the game.
  • What categories of spending are used in this simulation?
  • How the 2001 and proposed 2003 tax cuts are used in this simulation.
  • Why tax expenditures are treated like general spending in this simulation.
  • You might want to also consider Do Budget Deficits Matter?

    Playing the Game

    We Need Your Feedback!

    This simulation is still under construction. If you have suggestions for improving it, please send us some feedback.

    • Playing the Game


    Recent Entries

    March 05, 2003
  • U.S. Budget Deficit Rising Fast - U.S. Budget Deficit Rising Fast The federal deficit is growing much more quickly than expected, even before Congress takes up President Bush's tax-cutting proposals and without factoring in the costs...

    September 19, 2002
  • Many Taxpayers To Lose Tax Cut to AMT - A new study by the Tax Policy Center, argues that up to 36 million people will lose out on part or all of the benefits of the 2001 tax cut,...

    September 18, 2002
  • New Congressional Method for Measuring Deficits - New York Times on new GOP push to incorporate "supply side" assumptions into Congressional budget estimates

    September 09, 2002
  • Wall Street Predicts Deficits to 2010 - While the White House and Congressional Budget Office predict returns to surpluses within a few years, Wall Street economists are predicting much greater deficits in coming years....

    August 23, 2002
  • Deficits Forecast Far in Future - Democrats Forecast Deficit Will Run Long and Deep By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 — Rather than a budget surplus of $1.6 trillion over the next 10 years, as...



    • Great Budget Links

    About NBS * Budget WebLog * Budget Links * NathanNewman.org