Advantages And Disadvantages Of Deficit Spending

It is a difficult decision to know when and where to disburse money during a recession. Deficit spending can have several advantages, when done correctly. Deficit spending can be a major stimulus to economic growth and actually lower long term government debt (Amy, 2007). The government can borrow money at a lower rate while investing in the future. Injecting money into the economy can help achieve increases in aggregate demand and economic activity (Government Spending, n.d.). One advantage that can come from deficit spending is investing the money to enhance infrastructure. Spending money on infrastructure, such as

A fiscal deficit is when a government's total expenditures exceed the tax revenues that it generates. A budget deficit can be cut by either reducing public expenditure or raising taxes. In this essay, I am going to analyse the benefits and costs of increasing tax rates to reduce fiscal deficits instead of cutting government expenditure.

Deficit spending is often applied in a political context. However, it can be applied in

Many contend that deficit reduction is imperative to our prosperity and economic recovery. The deficit is blamed for a variety of economic ills including high interest rates, unemployment, the trade deficit, the low rate of national saving and low productivity growth (Shaviro, 1997).

This creates a budget deficit because there is more being spent than what’s being brought it.

Deficit financing is the amount of government spending compared to tax revenues. If the government spends more money than it generates then the government is in a public sector deficit and the country is in debt. This means that the government will decrease spending on public services and increase taxes to try to repay their debt.

Any person struggling through difficult times will seek out other means of financial support including borrowing money that may be harder to pay back in the future. The United States will often follow a similar path and spend more money than it earns. Deficit spending in the United States comes with some advantages, disadvantages, and strong criticism. Some feel deficit spending is good for getting the economy back in motion while others contend it does nothing for the economy. The effects of deficit spending are carefully examined to determine if the United States is improving or degrading the future of the economy.

The federal budget is an annual plan created by the president of the United States that sets a certain amount of money to fund different federal expenses such as national defense, transportation, and income security, in fact; the federal expenses are divided into two categories, mandatory and discretionary spending. Mandatory spending is any expenditure that is required by legislation in which Medicare and Social Security are the main funded programs. In addition, discretionary spending is spending not mandatory but decided by congress based on appropriations in which it funds education, agriculture,and administration of justice, just to name a few. The federal budget is created using the constitution’s preamble as a guideline in order for

The federal budget is known as the notorious economic tank from which money is distributed to various programs. The money used every fiscal year, which begins October 1st and ends September 30th the next year, belongs to the people. The government raises this money through taxes and they spend it on national defense, Medicare, and social security. The federal budget is an exercise in making choices, and those options will certainly affect individuals living in the U.S. These choices cause debt to pile up on the government, who is struggling to make it disappear. The deficit and debt of a government gauges how well it is being run and how well it has been run in the past. According to The Economist the national debt is the total

In our textbook, “Principles of Macroeconomics,” the relationship between debt and deficit is described. A deficit is a shortfall in revenue for a particular year’s budget. Whereas, a debt is the total of all accumulated and unpaid deficits. An outlay is an amount of money spent on something. The federal government outlays are divided into government outlays and mandatory outlays. Government outlays are the part of the government budget that includes both spending and transfer payments. Mandatory outlays constitute government spending that is determined by ongoing long term obligations. Of the two, mandatory outlays is the largest portion of the federal budget. Lastly, Discretionary outlays compromise government spending that can be altered when the government is setting its annual budget. A budget surplus occurs when revenue exceeds outlays. A budget deficit occurs when government outlays exceed revenue.

There are a number of both long and short term effects that a large budget deficit/debt can have on an economy. First, there will be increased borrowing, meaning the government will need to borrow from the private sector (Pettinger, 2014). Second, there will be higher debt interests payments, meaning selling bonds will increase the national debt, leaving future generations to have to pay higher taxes (Pettinger, 2014). Third, an increase in aggregate demand will occur, which could potentially cause a higher Real GDP and inflation to

The Obama Administration alone has added billions in new federal spending and though their aim was to improve the economy, their recessionary spending has done nothing but add to the deficit. In addition to cutting administration spending and enacting spending caps, programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, which are responsible for a large dent in the deficit, need to be reformed. While still offering all of these programs, the government needs to find new ways to offer them without putting the country into even more debt on an annual basis; controlling entitlement programs would have a positive effect on the national deficit. Lastly, cutting military expenses and getting troops out of other countries.

In my opinion, the government should balance the budget. Ideally, government spending not exceed income rather than continue borrowing to balance the current budget. We all know that the economy is constantly changing and therefore the government can’t expect that the actions were carried out based on past situations, help balance the current budget or the current problems of the economy.

An advantage to deficit spending is when the government steps in with tax cuts and lower interest rates for businesses so they can invest in hiring new employees which in turn the unemployment rate goes down and consumers start spending their money. Another advantage to deficit spending is when the government gives tax rebates to consumers, which stimulates the economy as well. Stephanie Kelton, from New Economic Perspectives, says consumer spending makes up 70% of the GDP. The other 30% is made up of Investment Spending, Government Spending, and Net Exports. How can the other 30% make up for the consumer’s 70%? This is why it is advantageous for deficit spending to keep the economy thriving. Unfortunately, there are always disadvantages that come

As long as the deficit is in proportion to GDP or Gross Domestic Product, the sum of a country’s goods and services, there is no significant fiscal risk to the economy. However there is a counter-argument that government deficits do matter. The argument is that if interest rates were to go up even a quarter point then that would lead to the need to take out even more debt to pay off previous interest payments. This would lead to the need to decide whether to decrease current spending on other programs such as healthcare or infrastructure to compensate for the new interest payments, or to maintain current spending and simply borrow more debt without attempting to curtail spending.Following the first would hurt economic growth and increase inequality, but following the latter would lead to the debt climbing higher at an increasingly fast rate that would risk causing massive inflation. Both sides make valid points.