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Tax revenues have not only dried up for the U.S government., they have fallen 11.8% in January in the U.K., the BBC reports this morning -- the first time on record the U.K.'s government has reported a January deficit.

Analysts had been expecting a surplus last month, but the government was forced to borrow 4.3 billion pounds, bringing total borrowing this fiscal year (8 months in) to 122.4 billion pounds. The deficit for the year is now projected at 178 billion pounds. (A rounding error compared to the U.S.'s projected $1.56 trillion deficit this year!)