Record $1.4T Deficit Imperils Recovery

The federal deficit in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 was $1.4 trillion, lower than projected but still a record. At 10% of GDP, the figure is the largest since 1945, when the deficit was 21.5% of GDP. The figure made public today coincides with early rumblings about extending some features of last winter's $787 billion stimulus package, the New York Times reports.

"It was critical that we acted to bring the economy back from the brink earlier this year," said White House OMB director Peter Orszag. "The president recognizes that we need to put the nation back on a fiscally sustainable path."
(More budget deficit stories.)