Okay, I don't know if the Post really has a record, but they do continue to misinform readers by referring to this year's budget deficit as a "record." Of course measured relative to the size of the economy, at 11 percent of GDP, the current deficit is well short of the record deficits during World War II which were more than 20 percent of GDP. The Post might have also refrained from calling President Obama's stimulus package "huge." The package was much smaller than was advocated by many economists. Such adjectives are better left for the editorial pages. The Post also told readers that: "deficits would remain elevated through 2020 and the national debt would grow -- potentially threatening the country's economic stability." This is a striking assertion from a paper that never once mentioned that the housing bubble could threaten the country's economic stability, especially since it is not supported by any of the evidence presented in the article.
--Dean Baker
