The Congressional Budget Office has released the Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2009 to 2019. The CBO expects that the current economic recession will “last until the second half of 2009, making it the longest recession since World War II.” The recession began in December 2007. Some of the main predictions are:

1) This year, the deficit will be $1.2 trillion (8.3% of the GDP)

2) Unemployment rate will increase more than 9 percent at the beginning of 2010

3) Federal revenues will decrease by $166 billion from the amount it was in 2008

4) A further decline of 14 percent in the national average price of a home between 2008 and 2010

5) In 2010, there will be a slow economic revival and a growth of 1.5 percent in the real GDP