Final answer:
The statement that Obama's most recently proposed budget anticipates $5.08 trillion in deficits over the next five years is false. Significant budget deficits have occurred, but the statement regarding Obama's budget proposal is not accurate. The example calculation of government debt after periods of deficit, surplus, and a balanced budget illustrates how deficits and surpluses affect overall government debt.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student's question about Obama's most recently proposed budget anticipating $5.08 trillion deficits over the next five years is false. According to the information provided, although the United States has experienced significant budget deficits, with a dramatic increase since 2008 due in part to the Great Recession, the statement regarding Obama's recent budget proposal is not correct. It is also important to note that the federal government ran budget surpluses from 1998-2001.
Focusing on the mathematics of budget calculations, if a government runs a budget deficit of $10 billion dollars each year for ten years, that amounts to $100 billion in debt. If it then runs a budget surplus of $1 billion for five years, it reduces the debt by $5 billion, lowering it to $95 billion.
If it follows this with a balanced budget for another ten years, the debt remains at that level since no additional deficit or surplus is created during that period.