Fiscal 2018 Deficit through March

The chart below compares the monthly deficit of Fiscal 2018 with Fiscal 2017. Through the first six months of the fiscal year, the federal government has overspent by $598 billion, which is $73 billion more than the prior year. As a percentage, the deficit is nearly 14% greater than one year ago.

The rate of growth in federal revenues has slowed since the beginning of January. Since most of the tax law changes became effective on January 1, this is not a complete shock, especially since the CBO projected the federal government would collect $1 trillion less over the next decade. Add in the additional spending approved through the Fiscal 2018 Omnibus appropriations bill, and the deficit will continue to increase throughout the rest of the fiscal year.

What do you think of the current increase of the federal deficit?