The Cyclically Adjusted and Standardized Budget Measures
"In September 2008, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its most recent baseline projections of federal revenues, outlays, and budget balances for the
next 10 years. Those projections are subject to procedures under which CBO assumes the continuation of current laws and policies affecting taxes and mandatory programs
and extrapolates the growth of discretionary spending by using projected rates of inflation. According to CBO’s projections, under current tax and spending policies, the budget deficit would increase from $161 billion in 2007 to $407 billion in 2008 and $438 billion in 2009. Measured relative to the size of the economy—that is, as a
percentage of gross domestic product, or GDP—the deficit would be 2.9 percent of GDP in 2008 and 3.0 percent in 2009."