1.Visit the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED Database ( http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/FYFSD ). Locate the latest budget figure. What is it in billions of dollars? (Note: be sure to report the Fed's figure in billions of dollars.) What does this figure indicate about government revenues and expenditures?

2. Visit the website U.S. Debt Clock (http://www.usdebtclock.org/) and determine the amount owed by the U.S. federal government. What is the national debt in trillions of dollars?

3. Explain how the budget situation identified in question 3 impacted the public debt figure in question 4.