Budget

Don’t you remember a time when the year 2000 sounded like far into the future?  Now we’re nearly a quarter century past it, so let’s think about another year that feels distant: 2054.  This is no arbitrary date chosen by Atlas.  No.

Imagine if managing money was a sport, where businesses, households, and nonprofits are diligently practicing their financial gymnastics, trying to stick the perfect landing on the budget mat.  They leap through hoops of income and expenses, striving not to face-plant into the pit of insolvency or scare away the delicate gazelles known as donors.  Households pirouette on the thin beam

America’s budget ran a surplus in January 2018 according to the Treasury Department.  Partially boosted by calendar influenced special factors, the nation took in $49.2 billion more than it spent to start the year.  Since the first day of the year is a holiday, outlays for military active duty and retirement, Veteran’s benefits, and Supplemental Security Income were paid i