Which of the following statements best describes what happens to the federal surplus (deficit) during the business cycle?
a. It's hard to draw a strong conclusion about the regularity of fluctuations in the federal surplus (deficit) over the business cycle
b. The federal surplus always decreases (deficit increases) during recessions indicated by the gray-shaded areas
c. The federal surplus always increases (deficit decreases) during expansions indicated by the white unshaded regions
d. None of the above