balancing the US federal budget

[Dave Backus @ NYU]

The Times has a nice online calculator that tells you what some of the
major options are; link below. Also a link to a solution, which
reminds us that this is more a political problem than an economic
one.

I'd add one thing: this isn't entirely about eliminating deficits.
The first issue of government finance is how much to spend, and what
on. The second is how to pay for it. The calculator combines the
two.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/11/13/weekinreview/deficits-graphic.html
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/11/in-which-i-overbalance-the-budget/66598/