Budget Deficit

A budget deficit is simply spending more than you take in, government version: in a given year, if the US spends more than it collects in tax revenue, the difference is the deficit, and it gets financed by selling more government debt. A large or growing deficit can push borrowing costs up across the economy, since the government is competing with everyone else for lenders' money, and persistent deficits are part of why total sovereign debt keeps climbing even in years when the economy is doing fine.