Readers might be asking that question when the NYT told them that CBO’s analysis implied that the House’s health care bill would raise the deficit by that amount. It is equal to about 0.13 percent of projected GDP over this period.

By comparison, the Iraq War at its peak cost more than 1.0 percent of GDP. Put in per capita terms, it is a bit less than $80 a year. This would have been useful context for this article.

–Dean Baker

Dean Baker is senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. He is the author of several books, including Rigged: How Globalization and the Rules of the Modern Economy Were Structured to Make the Rich Richer. Read more about Dean.