Know Your Washington Buzzwords
Deficit? Debt? Shutdown? Debt ceiling? NPR offers a guide to some of the political and economic terms you're likely to hear.
As Congress prepares to debate a year-end spending bill and President Trump prepares for trade talks with China's President Xi Jinping, these are some terms you're likely to hear used — and occasionally misused — by politicians and pundits. Bone up on your political and economic vocabulary so you'll sound smart on the holiday party circuit.
Federal deficit
When the federal government spends more than it collects in taxes, which it does most years, it has to borrow money to make up the difference. That gap is the federal
