Congress," Mr. Boskin said, "will simply not stand by and let huge surpluses accumulate without spending them.

As an economist, I would rather let the surpluses accumulate until we have paid off all of the outstanding $3 trillion in publicly held U.S. federal debt.

Under the Moynihan plan, no surpluses would accumulate.

It said today that the surplus would accumulate to $495 billion over the next five years, compared with the $127 billion it had forecast.

Because of these buying patterns, a surplus of three million eggs has accumulated in East Germany.

The resulting decision by default - to allow the surpluses to accumulate at the Treasury and begin eating into the $5.5 trillion national debt - "may not be a political choice, but a happy accident," Mr. Lee said.

An Irresistible Opportunity But Mr. Benziger also needed cash flow to support the fledgling operation, and he saw an opportunity in the huge surpluses of varietal wine then accumulating in stainless steel vats in warehouses.

Senior M.T.A. officials declined to provide details about how the surplus had accumulated, and have refused to say how the money will be spent.

The surplus, apart from what we needed to buy food, accumulated in gold and silver coins.