Functions Defined by Data
Part 3: Federal
Budget Deficits
For more than a generation, from the late 1970's to the late 1990's, the Federal government spent more money
each year than it received. The yearly shortfall in money received
compared to money spent is called the (annual) Federal budget deficit.
The following table contains information about Federal budget deficits
over a recent 16-year period. (These data are taken from
Historical Tables, Budget of the U. S. Government, Fiscal Year 1992,
supplemented by more recent newspaper articles.)
| Year |
Deficit
($ billion) |
|
|
|
|
Year |
Deficit
($ billion) |
| 1977 |
53.6 |
|
|
|
|
1985 |
212.3 |
| 1978 |
59.2 |
|
|
|
|
1986 |
221.2 |
| 1979 |
40.2 |
|
|
|
|
1987 |
149.7 |
| 1980 |
73.8 |
|
|
|
|
1988 |
155.1 |
| 1981 |
78.9 |
|
|
|
|
1989 |
153.4 |
| 1982 |
127.9 |
|
|
|
|
1990 |
220.4 |
| 1983 |
207.8 |
|
|
|
|
1991 |
269.0 |
| 1984 |
185.3 |
|
|
|
|
1992 |
348.0 |
- As you did for the postage
rate and AIDS data, construct a list of data points for the Federal deficit
data. Edit and enter the "skeleton" command in the worksheet.
- Again, complete the "skeleton"
plotting command in your worksheet to plot the deficit data. Experiment
with plot options until you get as good a picture of these data as you
can.
- An interviewee on National
Public Radio (Sept. 5, 1992) claimed that the Federal budget deficit was
currently 1 million dollars per day. Is that statement consistent with
the data above? If so, how do you figure it out? If not, what might explain
the discrepancy?
- In your worksheet, write
a brief description in words of what you see in the deficit graph. What
do you learn from the table or the graph that you did not know before?
We continue our discussion
of Federal deficits in the next Part of the module.
modules at math.duke.edu
