Data Sources for USA vs Canada Fiscal Policy Analysis

Overview

This document provides comprehensive references for all data sources used in the "Deferred Taxation: USA vs Canada Fiscal Policy Analysis" visualization. All data represents federal/national government figures only.

United States Data Sources

Revenue and Expenditure Data

Primary Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury

Monthly Treasury Statement (MTS)

Final Monthly Treasury Statement for Fiscal Year 2024 (September 2024)
URL: https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/static-data/published-reports/mts/MonthlyTreasuryStatement_202409.pdf
Contains: Revenue, Expenditure, and Deficit data for fiscal years 2023-2024
Fiscal Year: October 1 - September 30

U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data Portal

Federal Revenue: https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/government-revenue/
Federal Spending: https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/federal-spending/
National Deficit: https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/national-deficit/

Secondary Source: Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

Monthly Budget Review Series

Monthly Budget Review: Summary for Fiscal Year 2024
URL: https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60843
Contains: Detailed breakdowns of federal revenues and outlays

Budget and Economic Data

Historical budget data from 1962-present
URL: https://www.cbo.gov/data/budget-economic-data
Contains: Historical revenue, outlay, and deficit data

Federal Debt Data

Primary Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service

Historical Debt Outstanding Dataset

URL: https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/datasets/historical-debt-outstanding/
Date Range: 1790 - Present (Annual data)
Contains: Total Public Debt Outstanding by fiscal year

Debt to the Penny

URL: https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/datasets/debt-to-the-penny/
Contains: Daily updates of total public debt
Components: Debt Held by the Public + Intragovernmental Holdings

Canada Data Sources

Revenue and Expenditure Data

Primary Source: Department of Finance Canada

Annual Financial Report of the Government of Canada - Fiscal Year 2023-2024

URL: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/services/publications/annual-financial-report/2024.html
Contains: Comprehensive financial statements, budgetary balance, revenues, expenses
Fiscal Year: April 1 - March 31

Primary Source: Statistics Canada

Government Finance Statistics (GFS)

The Daily — Government finance statistics, fourth quarter 2024
URL: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/250327/dq250327c-eng.htm
Contains: Quarterly revenue, expenditure, and deficit data

Revenue, Expenditure and Budgetary Balance - General Governments

Data Table 36-10-0477-01
URL: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3610047701
Contains: Time series data for government revenues and expenditures

Federal Debt Data

Primary Source: Statistics Canada

Central Government Debt

Data Table 10-10-0020-01
URL: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1010000201
Date Range: 2009-2019
Contains: Federal debt components and gross debt

📊 Methodology Notes

Data Collection Period

Analysis Period: Fiscal Years 2006-2024
USA Fiscal Year: October 1 to September 30
Canada Fiscal Year: April 1 to March 31

Currency and Units

USA Data: Billions of U.S. Dollars (USD), nominal terms
Canada Data: Billions of Canadian Dollars (CAD), nominal terms
No inflation adjustment: All values in nominal terms to maintain consistency with official government reporting

Calculated Metrics

Spending Ratio = Expenditure ÷ Revenue

Ratio > 1.0 indicates deficit spending
Ratio < 1.0 indicates surplus
Ratio = 1.0 indicates balanced budget

Years Behind in Tax Collection = Total Debt ÷ Revenue

Represents how many years of current revenue would be needed to pay off accumulated debt
Key metric for understanding "deferred taxation"
Demonstrates intergenerational fiscal burden

⚠️ Known Data Limitations

COVID-19 Impact (2020-2021): Extraordinary spending resulted in anomalous data points that may skew trend analysis
Indigenous Settlements (Canada, 2022-2023): Large one-time expenses for historical claims settlement
Accounting Adjustments: Some years include significant actuarial adjustments or one-time items
Currency Comparison: Direct USD-CAD comparisons should account for exchange rates and economic size differences

✓ Data Quality Statement

All data used in this analysis comes from official government sources or reputable international financial institutions. The analysis prioritizes:

Primary Sources: Official treasury/finance department publications
Peer-Reviewed Data: Statistics collected by national statistical agencies
Transparency: All sources documented and publicly accessible
Reproducibility: Anyone can verify the data using the provided URLs

The analysis represents an honest attempt to understand fiscal policy differences between the United States and Canada using publicly available, authoritative data sources.

📅 Update Schedule

This analysis uses data available as of September 2025. Data sources should be checked periodically for updates:

USA Monthly Treasury Statement: Released approximately 8th business day of following month
Canada Annual Financial Report: Released approximately 6 months after fiscal year end (typically September/October)
Statistics Canada GFS: Released quarterly, approximately 2-3 months after quarter end

Last Updated: September 29, 2025

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