The US budget deficit has reached crisis levels:

Excluding interest payments, the deficit hit 5.8% of GDP in 2023 – the highest among all 38 OECD countries. The usual suspects like Japan, France, the UK, and Italy trail behind.

To put this in perspective: the current US deficit is worse than during any past recession except for 2008, 2020, and the World Wars.

Normally, a strong economy should mean more tax revenue and less government spending. In theory, deficit spending should be far lower when times are good.

So, let’s ask the obvious question: Is the US economy really as strong as they say?