deficit reduction
Cutting government shortfall
Deficit reduction is the effort to shrink a government's budget shortfall—the gap between what it spends and what it collects in revenue.
This typically involves cutting programs, raising taxes, or both.
The term dominates fiscal policy debates: The president's deficit reduction plan drew criticism from both parties.
Critics note that deficit reduction often serves as political cover for cuts to social programs.
- budget cutsPlanned spending reductions
- balanced budgetSpending matching revenue
- cutbacksReductions in spending
- across the boardApplying to all alike
- spending capsMaximum permitted expenditures
austerity measures · pension reform · sequestration · fiscal cliff · budget surplus · spending cuts · spending freeze · debt restructuring · taxation · pay-as-you-go · fiscal responsibility · grand bargain · fiscal discipline · fiscal policy · fiscal · belt-tightening · public spending · Medicare
- economicssupply and demand, inflation, GDP, GNP, gross domestic product
- decreasesdecline, drop, fall, decrease, lessening
- economic policymonetary policy, tax policy, fiscal discipline, fiscal stimulus, fiscal restraint
- modern economicsGDP, GDP growth, recession, inflation, interest rates
- austerityausterity measures, spending cuts, budget cuts, fiscal austerity, belt tightening
- federal budgetfederal budget, appropriations, national budget, surplus, federal spending
deficit reductiondeficit spending
Expenditures funded by debt
stimulus spending · fiscal stimulus · pump priming · quantitative easing · deficit financing