Figure B

Fiscal policy has become sharply contractionary in the past year: Change in net lending by the federal government as a % of GDP

Quarter Change in lending
1961Q1 -2.1%
1961Q2 -1.9%
1961Q3 -1.6%
1961Q4 -0.9%
1962Q1 -0.3%
1962Q2 0.0%
1962Q3 0.0%
1962Q4 -0.1%
1963Q1 0.1%
1963Q2 0.4%
1963Q3 0.8%
1963Q4 0.8%
1964Q1 0.4%
1964Q2 -0.3%
1964Q3 -0.7%
1964Q4 -0.6%
1965Q1 0.1%
1965Q2 0.8%
1965Q3 0.9%
1965Q4 0.5%
1966Q1 -0.2%
1966Q2 -0.5%
1966Q3 -0.4%
1966Q4 -0.3%
1967Q1 -0.7%
1967Q2 -1.2%
1967Q3 -1.5%
1967Q4 -1.1%
1968Q1 -0.3%
1968Q2 0.2%
1968Q3 1.0%
1968Q4 1.2%
1969Q1 1.7%
1969Q2 1.9%
1969Q3 1.5%
1969Q4 0.9%
1970Q1 -0.4%
1970Q2 -1.4%
1970Q3 -2.3%
1970Q4 -2.6%
1971Q1 -2.1%
1971Q2 -1.7%
1971Q3 -1.0%
1971Q4 -0.5%
1972Q1 -0.1%
1972Q2 0.3%
1972Q3 0.7%
1972Q4 0.7%
1973Q1 0.8%
1973Q2 0.8%
1973Q3 1.0%
1973Q4 1.4%
1974Q1 1.1%
1974Q2 1.2%
1974Q3 0.4%
1974Q4 -0.2%
1975Q1 -1.4%
1975Q2 -3.4%
1975Q3 -4.0%
1975Q4 -4.0%
1976Q1 -1.9%
1976Q2 0.5%
1976Q3 1.7%
1976Q4 2.0%
1977Q1 1.1%
1977Q2 0.9%
1977Q3 0.8%
1977Q4 0.7%
1978Q1 0.4%
1978Q2 0.4%
1978Q3 0.5%
1978Q4 1.0%
1979Q1 1.4%
1979Q2 1.4%
1979Q3 1.1%
1979Q4 0.5%
1980Q1 0.0%
1980Q2 -0.8%
1980Q3 -1.5%
1980Q4 -1.6%
1981Q1 -0.9%
1981Q2 0.0%
1981Q3 0.8%
1981Q4 0.6%
1982Q1 -0.3%
1982Q2 -1.4%
1982Q3 -2.2%
1982Q4 -2.5%
1983Q1 -2.6%
1983Q2 -2.0%
1983Q3 -1.4%
1983Q4 -0.4%
1984Q1 0.4%
1984Q2 0.8%
1984Q3 1.0%
1984Q4 0.5%
1985Q1 0.5%
1985Q2 -0.1%
1985Q3 -0.1%
1985Q4 -0.2%
1986Q1 -0.1%
1986Q2 0.0%
1986Q3 -0.3%
1986Q4 0.1%
1987Q1 0.1%
1987Q2 0.9%
1987Q3 1.4%
1987Q4 1.5%
1988Q1 1.3%
1988Q2 0.7%
1988Q3 0.7%
1988Q4 0.5%
1989Q1 0.8%
1989Q2 0.7%
1989Q3 0.5%
1989Q4 0.2%
1990Q1 -0.2%
1990Q2 -0.4%
1990Q3 -0.5%
1990Q4 -0.6%
1991Q1 -0.3%
1991Q2 -0.4%
1991Q3 -0.4%
1991Q4 -0.7%
1992Q1 -1.2%
1992Q2 -1.1%
1992Q3 -1.1%
1992Q4 -0.7%
1993Q1 -0.3%
1993Q2 0.1%
1993Q3 0.6%
1993Q4 0.9%
1994Q1 1.1%
1994Q2 1.3%
1994Q3 1.4%
1994Q4 1.1%
1995Q1 0.7%
1995Q2 0.4%
1995Q3 0.4%
1995Q4 0.5%
1996Q1 0.6%
1996Q2 0.7%
1996Q3 0.7%
1996Q4 1.0%
1997Q1 1.3%
1997Q2 1.5%
1997Q3 1.5%
1997Q4 1.2%
1998Q1 1.1%
1998Q2 1.0%
1998Q3 1.1%
1998Q4 1.0%
1999Q1 1.0%
1999Q2 0.8%
1999Q3 0.6%
1999Q4 0.5%
2000Q1 0.6%
2000Q2 0.7%
2000Q3 0.9%
2000Q4 0.7%
2001Q1 0.3%
2001Q2 -0.1%
2001Q3 -1.3%
2001Q4 -1.8%
2002Q1 -2.8%
2002Q2 -3.0%
2002Q3 -2.9%
2002Q4 -2.6%
2003Q1 -1.8%
2003Q2 -1.7%
2003Q3 -1.4%
2003Q4 -1.3%
2004Q1 -1.1%
2004Q2 -0.4%
2004Q3 0.2%
2004Q4 0.6%
2005Q1 0.8%
2005Q2 0.8%
2005Q3 0.7%
2005Q4 0.7%
2006Q1 0.7%
2006Q2 0.8%
2006Q3 0.9%
2006Q4 1.0%
2007Q1 0.8%
2007Q2 0.4%
2007Q3 -0.1%
2007Q4 -0.5%
2008Q1 -0.9%
2008Q2 -1.9%
2008Q3 -2.3%
2008Q4 -3.3%
2009Q1 -4.3%
2009Q2 -5.2%
2009Q3 -5.6%
2009Q4 -4.5%
2010Q1 -3.1%
2010Q2 -1.1%
2010Q3 0.0%
2010Q4 0.5%
2011Q1 0.9%
2011Q2 1.0%
2011Q3 1.1%
2011Q4 0.9%
2012Q1 1.0%
2012Q2 1.3%
2012Q3 1.6%
2012Q4 1.7%
2013Q1 2.0%
2013Q2 2.8%
2013Q3 3.1%
2013Q4 3.4%
2014Q1 2.6%
2014Q2 1.6%
2014Q3 0.7%
2014Q4 0.1%
2015Q1 0.1%
2015Q2 0.2%
2015Q3 0.5%
2015Q4 0.7%
2016Q1 0.2%
2016Q2 -0.3%
2016Q3 -0.6%
2016Q4 -0.7%
2017Q1 -0.5%
2017Q2 -0.5%
2017Q3 -0.3%
2017Q4 1.2%
2018Q1 1.2%
2018Q2 1.0%
2018Q3 -0.6%
2018Q4 -2.2%
2019Q1 -2.2%
2019Q2 -2.2%
2019Q3 -0.7%
2019Q4 -0.6%
2020Q1 -0.5%
2020Q2 -7.8%
2020Q3 -11.3%
2020Q4 -12.6%
2021Q1 -9.8%
2021Q2 -1.8%
2021Q3 1.6%
2021Q4 7.4%
2022Q1 8.7%
2022Q2 10.0%
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Economic Policy Institute

Notes: The data are rolling 3-quarter average of changes in net lending/borrowing as a share of GDP compared to the same quarter a year ago. A positive number means the federal government is borrowing less than in previous years.

Source: Data from Table 4.1 from the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

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