(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump plans massive fiscal stimulus to combat lackluster growth just as the budget deficit begins rising again, making this a good time to look at how federal revenues have been used to steer the economy in the past. After the six recessions prior to the 2007-2009 downturn, lawmakers let the deficit's share of gross domestic product rise for an average of 15 months to make sure the economy was back on track. Following the last downturn, the most severe since World War II, Barack Obama's stimulus gave way to Republican-backed spending cuts to shrink the deficit within just eight months -- and the weakest recovery in decades.
To contact the reporter on this story: Phil Kuntz in New York at pkuntz1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nikolaj Gammeltoft at ngammeltoft@bloomberg.net, Sophie Caronello, Vince Golle
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