The biggest flood of red ink the world has ever known

How much is $1.186 trillion — or $1,186,000,000,000, written out the long way?

• It’s more than the inflation-adjusted cost of the Vietnam ($698 billion) and Korean Wars ($454 billion).

• It’s more than the Louisiana Purchase ($217 billion) and the Savings and Loan bailouts ($256 billion).

• It’s greater than the 2007 Gross Domestic Product of all but 13 other countries in the world.

• It’s equal to $3,881 for every man, woman, and child in the U.S.

• It could buy 189,760,000,000 bushels of wheat at recent prices. 26,893,424,036 barrels of oil. Or 1,581,333,333,333 cans of Diet Coke at my trusty vending machine in the break room.

Why do I bring this up? Because that $1.186 trillion figure is the projected 2009 deficit, according to the latest report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

And it is downright scary.

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These Numbers Are Big —
Really Big!

That $1.186 trillion is such a large number — so out of control — that it’s hard for most of us mere mortals to process it. Suffice it to say … It’s the biggest flood of budgetary red ink any country has ever seen in world history. And it makes last year’s $455 billion deficit look like chump change.

It’s not just the absolute number, either …

The projected 2009 figure is equal to about 8.3% of U.S. GDP. That tops the post-World War II record of 6% set in 1983.

Still not worried?

Then get a load of this:

The CBO estimate doesn’t even include any potential stimulus package from Congress and the Obama administration.

We haven’t gotten the final details of the stimulus plan. But it could cost anywhere from $675 billion to $1 trillion. That means the ultimate 2009 deficit could end up being larger by 60% … 70% … 80% … or more!

Is the red ink a short-term problem, one that will soon go away? Not according to the CBO. Scroll through the agency’s report — “The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2009 to 2019? (available at: http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/99xx/doc9957/01-07-Outlook.pdf) and you’ll come to a nifty table on page 23.

It projects red ink as far as the eye can see: An ADDITIONAL $3.135 trillion from 2010 through 2019.