Every argument about government money comes back to one of two numbers, so this page puts each one in the centre and shows the real parts that build it.
How to use this page — step by step
Getting around
Use the two buttons below to switch between the debt and the economy, because each one is built by a different set of parts.
The wheel shows the chosen outcome in the centre, the groups of parts in the middle ring, and every individual part in the outer ring.
Click any part of the wheel to open its own page, which explains what it is, how big it really is, how governments usually push on it, who gains and who loses, and what this page thinks should be done.
Click the centre of the wheel to open the outcome's own page, which explains how the whole number is put together.
Reading the sizes
The wheel gives every part a similar slice so that all of them stay readable and clickable, which means the wheel shows you what the parts are rather than how big they are.
The bar chart underneath the wheel shows the real sizes in dollars, so use the wheel to find your way around and the bars to see where the money actually is.
Some parts have no dollar figure at all, because they change the outcome rather than adding to it. Those are listed under the bars and named plainly.
Trusting the numbers
Every number names the place it came from, shown under the figure on each part's own page.
A green mark means the figure is a firm published number. A yellow mark means it is rounded or is a middle estimate. A red mark means this page could not confirm a figure and has given none rather than guessing.
Where a figure needed a warning, the warning is printed with it in a box you cannot miss, rather than being left out.
What the opinions are
Each part's page ends with a green block headed "What should be done". That block is this page's own opinion and is marked so you never mistake it for a reported fact.
Everything above that block is either a description of how the thing works or a finding from the source named beside it.
