Evaluate the case for cutting public expenditure rather than raising taxes as a means of reducing fiscal deficits. [30]
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.
First of all, if the government decides to cut current public expenditure, it will lead to a reduced quantity and quality of public goods and service. For example, closing NHS direct call centres down which results in lower living standard. Moreover as the spending
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In addition, the government spending is one of the components of aggregate demand, consequently, lower GDP. In a demand-deficient recession, consumption and investment tend to decrease due to lower income and revenue, the (X-M) component tends to level off or worsen in short run, which makes government spending an essential device to stimulate the economy. Therefore a decrease in the government spending will cause an even deeper recession and a larger budget deficit.
Last but not least, a decrease in government spending could mean worse income distribution compared with increasing progressive tax. This is because transfer payment forms almost a third of the governments budgets and so by cutting expenditure it is very likely that it will also be cut making the poor poorer and widening the gap. On the other hand, taxes could be increased progressively by for example increasing marginal income taxes so that the people with high income pay more than the poor narrowing the gap between.
However, there are also some drawbacks associated with raising taxes. Tax is a form of leakage from the circular flow of income leading to negative multiplier effect. If the government increases income tax rates, it might create disincentives to work. It is because when income tax increases, the opportunity cost for leisure time decreases; and people will have to work longer
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
Answer: If there is a difference in the spending of government and the in income will lead to the deficits. More over deficits occurs when the amount of government total budget exceeds its total receipt for a fiscal year was said by US senate budget committee. From the US debit clock, largest budget items list are medical, social security, defense/war, income security, net interest on debt, federal pensions. As we can see that the largest budget items every item has its own importance for Medicare the budget is $949 billions, social security is $872 billions, defense is $591 billion, income security is $310 billions, net interest on debt is $245 billion, and federal pensions is $253 billion. A cut back in the spending of the government is not an easy task because which lead to so many issues. Every items has got his own importance consider defense which is a national importance, medical which is health importance, likewise every items has got their own importance. I would recommend cut back on income security in which the budget is allotted to maintain forester care, earned income credit, unemployment compensation, nutrition assistance, family support, making work pay this is meant for the citizens of the social welfare.
This will be beneficial in the long term because private sector will increase investment in capital goods, which is an injection into the circular flow of income and will also lead to a shift of the LRAS to the right. Secondly, the extent to which, if at all, cuts in public spending are unavoidable given the size of the budget deficit, so I feel that the government addressing this through cuts on public expenditure is a positive. Although, I do believe to some that significant cuts in some areas may lead to disruption and there may be some alternates such as increasing taxation and their relative merits.
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 United States deficit, surplus, and debt will always have an impact on taxpayers. In the state of high deficit the government seeks ways to cut and save money for debt payment. The government does this by pulling funding from programs that have little government impact. Increasing taxes also supplies the government with extra income. In addition to the reduction or elimination of certain tax credits, the government analyzes school funding for cost effectiveness. Each step the government takes has a trickling effect on taxpayer’s dollar.
The underlying truth of deficit spending is the same whether it is used in finance, economics or government that the more is spent, the less income is made (Buzzle, 2014). Many economists argue that deficit spending will hinder economic growth while others disagree. Deficit spending has been the topic of debate for a very long time. Deficit spending is “when government's expenditures exceed its revenues, causing or deepening a deficit. This excess spending needs to be financed through borrowing, likely from foreign governments. The increased government spending can help stimulate the economy as more money flows in, but the jump in borrowing can have an adverse effect of raising interest rates” (Investopedia, 2013). In simpler terms, deficit spending is when a governing body of a nation needs to borrow money from other nations due to the nation being in a recession. Governments borrowed against future revenues so that they are able to finance domestic welfare spending before the twentieth
The federal budget deficit is where government spends more than it receives. This deficit is financed either through borrowing or issuing money. The U.S. Treasury has borrowed trillions of dollars to rescue the financial system. When compared to other countries the sum of money is greater than what other countries borrow. Questions like who holds most of our debt and where is most of the money spent will be answered in this essay.
There are actually beneficial effects of deficits on the community. In the article “The Political Economy of Balanced Budget Amendments” by Marina Azzimonti, she stated that deficit can actually aid the economy. Marina revealed that in 1936 John Maynard Keynes pointed out that during recession, higher spending or lower taxes help economic recovery. This happens because when workers are unemployed and capacity is unused, higher government spends and lower tax rates usually increase the overall demand for goods and services. Political debate implicitly assumes that these deficits are adverse but it’s not necessarily the case. The government often finances and spends on public infrastructure such as roads and bridges to promote growth. This directly connects back to the advancement of technology, without growth we are stuck at a standstill. The benefits clearly outweigh the limitation because of all the opportunity it will open up. In the article “The Equilibrium Approach to Fiscal Policy”, David Aschauer showed that with an estimate of one percent increase in public capital raises output by 0.39 percent. Spending money on the community will return value to the government directly or indirectly. The important thing is that the government is looking for growth, this can be seen like an investment and in the long run will someday yield them profit which will slowly balance the budget. Growth is key, the amendment is not the solution, the problem is how the government has shown a lack of fiscal discipline (Stennis
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.
Deficit spending has its advantages though, but normally depends on two things. One being the slope of the supply curve and the extent to which deficit spending shifts the aggregate demand curve (Chrystal & Thorton, 1988). The simplest illustrations of a beneficial deficit can be seen during periods of recession in
9. When the economy is in a deep downturn, more government spending can lead to increased output in both the short run and the long run, even if it causes an increase in the deficit in the short run. Increased government spending on investments (e.g., infrastructure, education, technology) can improve the country's overall fiscal position, as its assets can increase more than its
Taxes in general create inefficiency in the form of deadweight loss or excess burden to society. The economic losses society endures due to the excess burden of taxation is the result of taxes or subsidies. One example it in income tax in America is progressive in which both marginal and average tax rates increases as income increases. Income taxes are generally inefficient because they increase labor costs for employers and reduce the quantity of workers and the wages of the workers
The U.S. budget deficits can affect tax payers in a negative aspect by increased taxes to offset the deficit. The budget deficit
There three schools of thoughts regarding the fiscal deficit of the government. First, the Keynesian view, it favours large government expenditure through running into deficit, in order to employ unused resources. It argues that, economic growth can be achieved by employing all the unused resources, even if the government is running into deficits. Second, the Ricardian view, argues that government deficit spending will not increase aggregate demand because citizens and businesses will predict future tax increases or rising inflation to finance the shortfall. These fears leads to an increase in the savings among the people, which does not help in the growing the demand for goods and services in an economy. Third is the neo-classical school of thought. The neo-classical economist argue that, due to increased fiscal deficit, there will be negative impact on the savings, which pulls back growth. Due to the high government deficit, there is little investment in the private sector, causing crowing
Fiscal Policy involves the use of changes in government spending and taxations to influence the level and composition and aggregate demand in the economic and giving the amount involve is clearly as important implications for business