For a change, there is actually some good news in fiscal policy. Late last week, the Department of Treasury reported that the budget deficit in 2015 fell to $439 billion. That's about a 10 percent drop from last year, and a whopping 70 percent fall from the 2009 peak of $1.4 trillion.
But let's not pop open the champagne just yet.
A 70 percent slide in deficits is certainly significant, but when put in context, it is less impressive than you'd think. The rapid fall was from record-high levels and followed a humongous 779 percent increase between 2007 and 2009. It also seems the era of deficit decline is almost over, with trillion-dollar deficits projected to return within a...