The annual budget of the United States is very complex, but this case requires that you analyze only a small portion of the historical tables that are presented as a part of each year’s budget. The fiscal year of the federal government ends on September 30. Obtain the budget documents needed at www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget and follow these steps.

■ Under “Previous Budget” select FY 2009, and then click “Go.”

■ Click on “Browse the FY09 budget.”

■ Scroll down to the section “Supplemental Materials” and select “Historical Tables.”

■ To complete the requirements below you will need to review Table 1.1, Table 1.2, and Table 4.2.

Required

a. Table 1.2 shows the budget as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP). Using the data in the third column, “Surplus of Deficit,” determine how many years since 1960 the budget has shown a surplus and how many times it has shown a deficit. Ignore the “TQ” data between 1976 and 1977. This was a year that the government changed the ending date of its fiscal year.

b. Based on the data in Table 1.2, identify the three years with the highest deficits as a percentage of GDP. What were the deficit percentages for these years? Which year had the largest surplus and by what percentage?

c. Using your findings for Requirement b regarding the year with the highest deficit as a percentage of GDP, go to Table 1.1 and calculate the deficit for that year as a percentage of revenues.

d. The President of the United States was a Democrat from 1993 through 2000—Bill Clinton. The president from 2001 through 2009 was George Bush, a Republican. These men had significant input into the federal budget for the fiscal years 1994—2001 and 2002—2009, respectively. Table 4.2 shows what percentage of the total federal budget was directed toward each department within the government. Compare the data on Table 4.2 for 1994—2001, the Clinton years, to the data for 2002—2009, the Bush years. Identify the five departments that appear to have changed the most from the Clinton years to the Bush years. Ignore “Allowances” and “Undistributed offsetting receipts.” Note, if you wish to approach this assignment more accurately, you can compute the average percentage for each department for the eight years each president served, and compare the two averages. The gpoaccess website includes a spreadsheet version of the historical data tables, allowing for a reasonably easy Excel analysis.