The recent release of budget plans for fiscal year 2014 makes a proper perspective of projections of public debt even more important. This week’s chart shows the debt held by the public as a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP) under various budget proposals.

The Senate Democratic and House Republican budget proposals are scheduled for consideration; the former drafted by Senate Budget Committee Chair Patty Murray, and the latter by House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan. The following charts compare and contrast key aspects of the Ryan and Murray plans. The charts use data from the Senate Democratic and House Republican FY 2014 budgets and the Congressional Budget Office’s most recent Budget and Economic Outlook.

Since CBO’s projected debt and deficit figures are contingent on other economic indicators like GDP, examining the assumptions underlying these figures is critical. Under a more realistic assumption of GDP growth, actual debt in 2023 might be even higher than the 77 percent of GDP projected in the CBO’s baseline scenario.