Higher Tax Revenues From Dot-Com Boom Contributed to Late 1990s Budget Surpluses

Federal Government Spending and Revenues as a Share of GDP, Fiscal Years 1990-2024

* According to World Bank data, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for US internet usage was 43 percent from 1990 through 2002. From 2003 through 2024, CAGR slowed to two percent.
Source: Congressional Budget Office, "Historical Budget Data," February 2026; World Bank, "Internet Users for the United States," 2026.
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