Wonk

Think you're smart about deficits? Try this

Deficits. Taxes. Spending. Could you help Washington find a way out of the nation's fiscal pickle? Take the CNNMoney debt quiz.

By Jeanne Sahadi, senior writer

Score so far: points
5. What percent of the deficit projected for 2021 will be due to interest payments alone?


Answer: 80%. 80%. A fairly fat sum. Interest owed will account for 80% -- or $931 billion -- of the $1.16 trillion projected deficit for that year, according to the CBO analysis of the president's budget proposal. That $931 billion, combined with the spending on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security would eat up 89% of all federal tax receipts. So 89 cents of every tax dollar will be spoken for before lawmakers consider what to spend on everything else from education to infrastructure to defense.

Broke! Fixing America's fiscal crisis
Debt ceiling: What you need to know
Debt ceiling: FAQ
Everybody's talking about debt. No wonder: The country's tab is a whisker away from the current debt ceiling. (more)
Where our money will go in 2020
Where our money will go in 2020
Unless we make big changes, 92% of U.S. tax revenue could go to just 4 things – leaving just a sliver to pay for everything else. (more)
Take the Social Security quiz
Take the Social Security quiz
As policymakers and politicos argue about its fiscal condition, here's a quick test of what you know. (more)
Contact Us Closed Captioning Manage Cookies+ Site Map

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.