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Duh wun's avatar

Thanks for the balanced analysis. Have fun on your road trip, Prof.

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Unemployed Value Degen's avatar

Thank you

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Vladislav Khabarov's avatar

The June budget report looked good on paper only:

Revenues increased by 12.9% year-over-year, reaching $526.4 billion.

Spending decreased by 7% year-over-year, totaling $499.4 billion.

For the first time in recent years, June showed a budget surplus of $27 billion.

However, this surplus is misleading. The first day of June was a holiday, so some expenses were paid early in May (which had a deficit of $315.7 billion). If you adjust for this, June actually had a deficit of about $71 billion.

The drop in spending compared to last year is mainly because last year, Janet Yellen managed to push through an $80 billion expense for student loans. This year, that one-time expense did not happen. If you ignore this special case, spending actually grew by 9.2% year-over-year.

Of the $63 billion increase in revenue compared to June 2024: $51 billion came from income tax, reflecting higher wages, more people working, and an extra workday. This has little to do with Trump’s policies. $20 billion came from Trump’s tariffs.

However, corporate tax revenues fell sharply by $13 billion.

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Unemployed Value Degen's avatar

May is included in the last four months to get $250 billion. Saying that Democrats spent an extra $80 billion so Trump shouldn't get credit, well, Trump isn't forgiving student loans. I am worried about surprise Ukraine aid.

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Patrick Barber's avatar

Have a great road trip

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