Government deficit

Government deficit is a way of saying that the government added more of its currency into the economy via payments than it removed via taxation, typically measured during a calendar year. For example, if the government made $1,000,000 in payments and taxed $900,000 during the year, the deficit would equal $100,000. However, this also means the non-government sector of the economy has retained the $100,000 and therefore has a surplus. A deficit in one sector of the economy must equal a surplus somewhere in the other sectors.