One of the most influential topics, to me, that was discussed within Chapter 23 of the textbook was the topic about whether or not the government should balance its budget. This is always a very heated topic that is discussed throughout any congressional debate/session… whether it is a Monday, or if it is the Presidential campaign. This section declares the pros and cons behind the government balancing its budget. Under the pros, the government can either go on and pay off the debts (often with interest) or they can place the debt off for the future economists to deal with gradually. Another pro for balancing the budget is that with the increase in the debt, those future economists and other generations will have lower incomes and higher taxes.
Evaluate the case for cutting public expenditure rather than raising taxes as a means of reducing fiscal deficits.
The growing national deficit is a looming problem in the United States now more than ever. The national debt is constantly increasing and government spending is out of control. If these issues are not solved then they could spell disaster for the nation’s economy when the infamous debt ceiling is finally reached. Currently the national policy on the debt is to continue raising the debt limit until a solution is found that is agreeable between both parties in Congress. The two main issues of over spending and the constant raising of the debts ceiling by Congress can both be resolved by government spending reform, balancing the federal budget and initiating pro-growth policies in order to increase the government’s tax revenue.
23 Jeffrey Leigh Sedgwick, ‘The Prospects of Restoring the Federal Balance’ (2006) 17 (1) JSTOR Polity <
The recent clash between the president and congress about raising the debt ceiling made the front page on every newspaper throughout the country and generated controversy of unimaginable proportion among the citizens of the United States of America (College for Financial Planning). No macroeconomics issue is more controversial today than the impact of large public debt on the economy and on future generations, but, however, there appears to be a huge disconnect between professional, political leaders, and the ordinary public about the national debt and its impact on the current and future
Chapter nine: Explain how the average American is three times as rich as they would have been in 1950. Explain the most effective “knock” on GDP. What does the author think about the effectiveness of fiscal policy? Explain how a current account surplus/deficit can be good and bad.
The federal budget deficit is a much discussed and little understood subject in American politics. The current recession has dramatically decreased tax revenues, driving the United States federal government to increase spending in an attempt to stabilize the economy. As a result the current federal deficit is at over $1.3 trillion dollars. This is approximately $47,754 per U.S. citizen or $137,552 per U. S. taxpayer (U.S. Debt Clock: Real Time, 2012).
Chapter nine: Explain how the average American is three times as rich as they would have been in 1950. Explain the most effective “knock” on GDP. What does the author think about the effectiveness of fiscal policy? Explain how a current account surplus/deficit can be good and bad.
From the moment they become old enough to be aware that money is limited, young people today are taught to avoid getting into debt. Horror stories of payment defaults, exorbitant interest rates, and ruined credit are passed from generation to generation, and along with it, sentiments of disgust and panic toward the large and seemingly never-decreasing number that is the national debt of the United States of America. Yet, it cannot be said that all debt is bad; student loans taken as an investment in the future, or a mortgage on a house -- there are plenty of examples of how deficit spending can be a valuable practice, and the first Secretary of the Treasury was a strong proponent of that view when it came to government spending.
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
Hundreds of New Jersey's movers and shakers are currently headed to Washington aboard an Amtrak train — but for the first time in six years, Gov. Chris Christie won't be there to meet them when they arrive.
The federal budget is in crisis and the national debt is growing by the second. In an effort to stabilize the budget, I propose to cut spending in the areas of reducing troops in Afghanistan, healthcare, tax expenditures, and social security amongst others. While the premise behind helping others in our nation and abroad is an honorable idea, we need to find ways to do this while incentivizing people who work hard, rather than penalizing them.
When a government’s spending exceeds its revenues causing or deepening a deficit it is called deficit spending. Deficit spending is only one of numerous tools used to help manage the economy. Deficit spending is presumed to stimulate consumer demand by helping the consumer to obtain more money to spend, in turn, the demand of product will rise. There are advantages and disadvantages to deficit spending that we will discuss further below.
This paper will attempt to answer the question: Is the federal deficit and government deficits in general a good or a bad thing? While it may be easy to lose sight of how the government chooses to handle its money, it is also important for citizens to be conscious of how their money is being spent, and whether or not the current course that the government is plotted on is either sustainable or the best allocation of resources.
The future is uncertain, as such conventional wisdom dictates that governments must intervene in the economy to help enhance growth and ensure stability. However, is too much intervention a bad thing? There are many reasons why it is so but one such reason is that in an economy where there is excessive government intervention and ownership such as in the Soviet Union, there was a lack of risk and subsequently lack of innovation as rather than satisfying customers the concern of a producer in the system was to satisfy the state. The lack of a reward for working harder, due to all businesses being owned by the state reduces incentive to produce or innovate and this leads to inefficient outcomes in an economy. This is a contrast to a capitalist society where innovation and hard work can lead to personnel gain in the form of money. Price ceiling and price floors are price control mechanisms that are used to, respectively set a maximum price, and a minimum price. One such problem as a result of implementing these is that they will artificially cause a shortage or surplus, respectively, of the good or service due to affecting supply and demand. This prevents the good/services to be at the equilibrium price, which is where economic outcomes would be most efficient. So should governments intervene? Regardless of the aforementioned downsides this has always been a topic of debate between Keynesian economists and classical economists, but a widely accepted consensus is that some level
Deficit spending is when purchases exceed income. It is usually attributed to government spending within an economy. Although it can happen to both individual and business, when government spends more and not able to balance the budget, we say it is deficit spending. Deficit spending is created each fiscal year by congress and government because the spending by government causes the growth of the economy. For example, in the United State deficit spending is mainly caused by social, security, and medical cost. Government spends most of its revenue in each fiscal year into this payment. According to Kimberly Amadeo(2017) he said “ most people don’t realize that wars create more deficit spending than the create recession. The war in Afghanistan cost $28.7 billion in 2001.The war in Iraq for deployed military costs $72.5 billion by 2003. In 2008, the total cost grew to $186.6 billion.