GOVERNMENT: Balanced Budget (Fluke)

Despite big arms spending, the U.S. is currently taking in more money than it is paying out. Although President Truman in January predicted a $2.7 billion deficit, the U.S. will probably end 1951's fiscal year in June with a cash surplus of possibly $5 billion. But this balanced budget—the third in 21 years—will be something of a fluke: tax collections are high and spending on rearmament has been slower than expected, and far less than actual appropriations. Estimated deficit (at current tax rates) for the fiscal year beginning next July: $13 billion.