The Treatment of Federal Receipts and Expenditures in the National Income and Product Accountss
September 2008
Numbers in the tables may not sum to totals because of rounding.
PrefaceThis report describes how the treatment of federal receipts and expenditures in the national income and product accounts differs from the recording of federal revenues and outlays in the federal budget, as prepared by the Office of Management and Budget. It is one of a series of reports that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issues each year to fulfill section 202(e) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, which requires CBO to submit to the Committees on the Budget periodic reports about fiscal policy and to provide baseline projections of the federal budget. Most recently, in response to that requirement, CBO issued The Budget and Economic Outlook: An Update (August 2008).
Frank Russek of CBO’s Macroeconomic Analysis Division and Barry Blom of CBO’s Budget Analysis Division wrote the report under the supervision of Robert Dennis and Peter Fontaine. Loretta Lettner edited the report, and Maureen Costantino prepared it for publication. Lenny Skutnik printed copies of the report, Linda Schimmel handled the print distribution, and Simone Thomas prepared the electronic version for CBO’s Web site.
ContentsConceptual Differences Between the Federal Budget and the Federal Sector in the NIPAs
Differences in Recording Major Transactions
The Measurement of National Saving
Capital Transfers and Exchanges of Existing Assets
Surpluses of Government Enterprises
Military Sales and Assistance In-Kind
Presentation of the Federal Government’s Receipts and Expenditures in the NIPAs
1. Relationship of the Budget to the Federal Sector of the National Income and Product Accounts
2. Baseline Receipts and Expenditures as Measured by the National Income and Product Accounts