Q3 GDP +3.5%

The government just reported that the economy grew, in real terms, by 3.5% last quarter. That’s a decent number. Four of the last five quarters have shown good growth, although there’s obviously room for improvement. Nominal GDP rose by 4.87% last quarter.

With the end of the third quarter, it’s also the end of the government’s fiscal year. That means that we have one more data point for the government’s taxing, spending and deficit.

For 2014, outlays were 20.32% of GDP. Receipts were 17.52%. Here’s a look at the historical data.

The deficit was 2.82%.

The recent deficits were ugly, but it’s improved a lot. Last year’s deficit was lower than every year except one between 1982 and 1994.

This is unusual, but the numbers for FY 2014 were almost the exact same as those for FY 1994. Receipts were 20.31% in 1994 and 20.32% in 2014. Outlays were 17.49% in 1994 and 17.52% in 2014. The deficit was the same, 2.82% in both years.

Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on October 30th, 2014 at 8:45 am

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