In the text we learned about government budget deficits and surpluses. Use the internet to determine the current state of the federal and state and local government budgets. Above is the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis summary page of U.S. economic conditions.

Questions

1. Find the section on Federal government finances and State and local government finances and use the data to create two figures: 1) a graph that plots the last 5 quarters of data on the federal budget deficit or surplus and 2) a graph that plots the last 5 quarters of data on the state and local budget deficit or surplus.
2. Use your figures to answer the following questions:
   1. Is the federal budget in surplus or deficit?
   2. Is the state and local budget in surplus or deficit?
   3. Is there any obvious pattern of change in either budget over the past 5 quarters?