United States fiscal cliff

The United States fiscal cliff was an economic situation in the United States in 2012. Several tax increases and spending cuts happened at about the same time, causing a sudden fall in the US budget deficit. A compromise was reached which delayed the economic impact.

United States Fiscal Cliff Media

U.S. federal debt from 1940 to 2022. The right side of the diagram projects what would happen to the debt if Congress (a) allowed the "cliff" laws to take effect and reduce the deficit (the baseline) or (b) extended the existing policies, such as keeping tax cuts in place (the alternative).
Overall effects of the fiscal cliff.
Democratic and Republican leaders meet in late November as part of the fiscal cliff debate.

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