deficit spending

noun

1. the practice of spending funds in excess of income, especially by a government.

Word History and Origins

Origin of deficit spending¹

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

J. Bradford DeLong, a UC Berkeley economist, said the twin economic crises of the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic made deficit spending warranted.

From Los Angeles Times

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva praised the strength of the U.S. economy but warned its current level of deficit spending was not sustainable and could crimp U.S. and global growth if it’s not brought under control, in remarks Monday at the Milken Institute Global Conference.

From Los Angeles Times

Dimon had particular concerns with continued large amounts of deficit spending by the U.S. government and other countries, as well as the need for countries such as the U.S. to remilitarize and continue to build out green infrastructure, all of which will likely keep inflation higher than investors expect.

From Seattle Times

A 2009 constitutional amendment limiting deficit spending has come back to haunt the current government after the constitutional court ruled it could not use special emergency funds to skirt deficit limits.

From Seattle Times

We need to get the electorate to understand that the economy as they know it began after the Great Depression and World War II, and it was f**king humming, and the Republicans come in in 1980 and steal all our tax revenue to put us into a permanent cycle of deficit spending, and because of that divestment from our growth, our future, our infrastructure, our education systems, all these other things that in 1950 or 1960 we led the world on, we've been surpassed by the EU, by Canada.

From Salon

Related Words

• budget deficit