The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report last month projecting an increase in the federal budget deficit relative to the gross domestic product (GDP) for the first time since 2009. The deficit for this year is now expected to be $590 billion. As a percentage of GDP, that is 3.2% compared to last year’s 2.5%. It is not good news when the deficit is growing faster than the economy, which is currently growing at 1.4%.

In the television drama, The West Wing, President Josiah Barlet, played by Martin Sheen, laments to his chief of staff, Leo McGarry, about the challenges of growing the economy. "Historically, 2 to 2.5 percent GDP expansion is classified lackluster even anemic economic growth," Bartlet said. "Four and a half to 5 percent is needed just to be considered robust and not even spectacular."

With the whirlwind of scandal currently buffeting the Obama Administration, domestic attention has shifted away from economic performance. Be assured, the economic picture is as bleak as ever. Economic indicators like GDP tend to be measures of monetary flow, not economic well-being per se; in fact, GDP is boosted every time there is a tragic natural disaster, and those aren’t good for anyone!

On February 5, the Congressional Budget Office released a report titled, "Macroeconomic Effects of Alternative Budgetary Paths". Full disclosure: even to us policy wonks, this report sounds a bit dry. Not exactly 50 Shades of Grey, if you know what I mean. But this report did contain some very interesting nuggets. Prepared at the request of the Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, Patty Murray, I'm certain that it came as a bit of a surprise.