How Government Budget Gimmicks Hide the True Deficit

The Fiscal Policy Podcast with Fexingo: Government Budgets, Stimulus, and Public Spending · Jul 12, 2026 · 8m · transcript

The federal budget is full of accounting tricks that make deficits look smaller than they really are. In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down three specific gimmicks: timing shifts that push payments into the next fiscal year, rosy economic assumptions that overestimate revenue, and 'emergency' designations that bypass spending caps. They use concrete examples from the 2026 budget to show how these maneuvers add up to hundreds of billions in hidden borrowing. A must-listen for anyone who wants to understand what the official deficit number actually means—and what it leaves out…