The United States is arguably the most powerful nation in the world, but that comes with a price tag. We have a huge national debt that is sky-rocketing by the second. Our Deficit spending has continued for years and years and there are no signs of stopping. How do we continue to operate when we have more debt than we do income? We operate on a deficit, which has its advantages and disadvantages. Ultimately, our deficit spending habits are increasing our debt at an alarming rate, and creates “crowding-out” which reduce aggregate demand, lead to a hindrance in economic growth.
What is Deficit Spending and how does it work
If a nation is in a situation where it needs to spend more money than it is generating through revenue sources like
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Professor Colin Danby from the University of Washington states that, "Some economists argue that if the highway system will raise future incomes and hence tax revenues over the future, it makes sense to borrow the money to build the highways, and then tax incomes repay the borrowing." This means that we can move faster towards economic growth and improvements on necessity that we would not have been able to if we did not borrow that money. Deficit spending, gives the government additional fiscal power to continue operating. Moreover, if the nation was to fall to a crisis; like another Hurricane Katrina situation we would expect the government to provide government aid to those inflicted with lose from the storm. One factor to note is that Deficit Spending should be compared to the nations GDP, this greatly influences the nation’s ability to continue to operate without reaching Default and not being able to pay back those that lend like in Greece several years ago. Luckily, in terms of the Deficit to GDP ratio the United States is not doing nearly as terrible as other countries (Rittenburg & Tregarthen, p.291) Unfortunately, we have to know that there are disadvantages associated with careless spending of borrowed …show more content…
On the other hand however Deficit Spending comes with a price. Economics Professor Robert Skidelsky from Warwick University tells us that, “Government deficits incurred on current spending for services or transfers are bad, because they produce no revenue and add to the national debt.” When the government borrows money to cover lack of revenue it starts the following process. First, the higher to Deficit the more the government needs to borrow. That leads to the need for an increase in printed money, the more money printed the more inflation rises. Increased inflation leads to higher interest rates. For consumers the high interest rate effects borrowing, less consumption which means less spending, on goods like cars, computers etc. A firm feels similar tension, they are less likely to borrow for increase in capital, if they do borrow they in turn see less profits margins. Ultimately, leading to a recession and more government spending; this process continues in a snowball towards Default. Fiscal policies are made to reduce impact and shock to our economy, one of these items is the Auto-Stabilizers. Another phenomena, is the Crowding-out
This deficit has to do with having responsible leader who are willing to increase awareness and make beneficial changes in the nation. In my opinion, the federal debt is a serious threat to the US that must be politically address whenever possible. I believe that the candidates of the 2016 presidential election should make this issue one of the top priorities to discuss and to dictate a considerable amount of work to fix it. That is because the worse the federal debt is, the worse the future would be to the nation. Also, voters must be well educated about this issue in order to shape their decision in voting for the candidate that seems most powerful and confident about this problem. Solving this problem may be difficult and would take time and so much effort. Therefore, the changes and solution must be on both a national and individual levels as
One thing that I have learned about college is that you have to sometimes talk about things that make you uncomfortable or scared in order to learn. I do not think I am alone in saying that the United States’ current debt situation is terrifying. Ten trillion dollars alone is an expansive and unimaginable amount of money, and since PBS produced Ten Trillion and Counting in 2009, the national debt has grown to twenty-one trillion. As stated, the documentary was produced during the first months of former President Barack Obama’s first term and focused on former President George W. Bush’s relationship with national debt during his eight year tenure. Ten Trillion and Counting explains some of the questionable decisions that former President Bush made, especially regarding fiscal policy.
The dollar will be worth less and less if the nation is in high debt. People will also be affected, when you have less money you spend and buy less due to increased prices, which can cause problems in the economy such as a recession or worse a depression. Budget deficit calls for the government to let costs exceed national income and use monetary policy to jump start the economy. The government must be careful when choosing the best way to build the economy. If the policies fail, they can lead the nation into many problems, as stated above.
December of 2007 saw the beginning of the worst economic downturn in memorable history; not since the end of the Great Depression in 1939 has the world seen such a devastating and long-lasting economic breakdown. The Great Recession shook the public’s faith in the capitalist system and silenced those who claimed a modern economy was impervious to another broad collapse like the one in 1929. Discontent and mistrust from the public has built not only with large corporations and the financial sector, but also with the government whose legislature and policies in recent decades seem to coincide with the interests of private corporate power-houses. These lenient policies contributed directly to the recession that affected individuals across the globe. Stunted wages, increased poverty,
However the interest we pay on our nation 's debt is very small compared to the overall budget. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities only 7% of the total budget is spent on interest which is relatively low compared to things like social security which took up 24% of the budget in 2014 (Policy Basics). As long as the United States can continue to keep the interest rates low the debt will continue to be a begin threat. If the creditors of the U.S. were to spike their interest rates, America would be in trouble, however America has fairly good credit, and it should remain that way unless there is another scare like the government shutdown in 2011 (Riley). Overall the threat of the nation debt is a very minute problem in the grand scheme of things. According to The Richest, only five nations in the entire world are completely debt free, which is astounding when you consider that there are about 195 countries in the entire world (Mathers; How Many). These figures show how extremely difficult it is for a country to run without having a certain amount of debt, and America having debt should not be a concern. America is not even in the top ten countries whose debt make up the majority of their GDP (Country List). Which means that at the moment American’s should not be overly
The US has been in and out of debt countless times throughout history, going as far back as the Civil War. However, debt did not become a truly relevant problem until much later, in the 1980s (Budget Deficits). Up to that point, large budget deficits were generally only allowed during wartime, but this pattern ended after the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s New Deal meant that the government spent much more than it previously did, even after the economy improved (Budget De...
In general, an increase in government spending and decrease in the collection of government taxes and other receipts, increases the debt held by the local government. Government taxes and receipts fluctuate annually, and are frequently less than government spending. In the past, the U.S. public debt has increased for the duration of wars and recessions. When the government consumes more than what it accumulates in taxes, there is a budget deficit and the government then borrows from the private sector or from foreign governments to protect their spending. The compilation of historical borrowing is what materializes the government debt.
The U.S budget deficit over the years has been a problem but lately the deficit has shrunk. However, what made the U.S budget deficit get to where it is today and what will it be like in the years to come. Throughout the past the U.S has operated under a deficit. This means that the U.S Spent more money than it was taking in. The cause of the excess in spending was different depending on which year. Some of the causes were war, increase in spending , and economic downturns. There were different acts passed to try and control the deficit problem. The deficit at the present time is declining. This decline is due to the improving economy, sequester, and a tax increase on high-income households. The big factor that went into the decline in the deficit for 2013 was the payment that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made. The deficit decline in the present time may make some think the U.S could get out of debt but it has been projected that the U.S deficit will start to increase once again.
Government spending is a controversial topic. Even though the government has a set budget each year that Congress and the President of the United States collaborate on, the United States continues to fall deeper in debt. According to U.S. National Debt, the U.S debt has been larger than our total annual gross domestic product since 2012. In other words, our debt is larger than the value of all the goods and services produced in the country within a twelve month period. “It is said that the U.S is currently $19.2 trillion dollars in debt (U.S. National Debt).” As long as Congress and the President continue to run yearly budget deficits, the U.S debt will continue to rise.
Should the government decrease military spending or should it increase military spending? This is a question that many Americans wrestle with, and politically speaking, is a point of great contention since to many, military might evokes a sense of security. However, when considering this question from a foreign policy standpoint, does current military spending really match the current level of threats faced by the United States, or are too many dollars being allocated for an unnecessary level of military strength? There are certainly cons in making the decision to drastically lower military spending, but they are minimal when compared to the positive ramifications such a decision would have. This paper aims to explore these pros and cons
We hear about the debt almost every day: news talks about it, politicians argue about it, even President Obama gives speeches on it. So what is the significance behind it? In this article I am going to explain briefly what the national debt is, how big it is, and what it has to do with us.
...ment has to invest in the future of the country regardless of the deficit it may cause now, because the reimbursement in the future is priceless. An educated, trained and sustainable nation is something that no one can defeat even in times of crisis.
An increase in government spending or a reduction in net taxes is always aimed at increasing aggregate output (Y). The main aim is to stimulate the economy but this may lead to many problem such as inflations, budget deficit because of needed debt to finance the deficit. Before finding out which is the better options for stimulation of any economy we need to first be clear with the concept of multiplier.
...two aspects, nominal and real, both measuring two different controls. Nominal measures what is considered a “price tag” of a loan, which includes the price of inflation. While real measures the cost of a loan without inflationary rates. From nominal and real rates there are also lowered and raised rates. When the interest rate is lowered consumer spending grows while savings decrease. Spending on items such as housing becomes one of the ways the AD rises. Though AD rises it pulls the economy out lack of spending, but puts the economy into the possibility of inflation. Differentiating from low rates, high rates stop inflation but creates the possibility of recession. High interest rates create a fall in demand for goods and services. This fall of AD puts a stop to spending, borrowing and much more, creating the incentive to save ultimately putting a haul to inflation.
As a result of this economic growth families will begin to feel more confident and will begin to spend more of their money instead of saving it because they believe that will receive a pay raise or will find a better job. (Amadeo, 2016) Borrowing also increases when economic activity is high people begin to borrow from banks and other places because they feel that the government has been doing a great job managing the economy. (Amadeo, 2016) As we have seen in 2008 people should never get to confident in the economy because our economic bubbles are used to crashing when they are doing very well and it’s never really the people’s fault it’s the governments. Although inflation begins to rise when the economy is doing great one of the things that is known to bring prices down is competition among businesses. Competition is great because one company will attempt to sell a product for a cheaper price than another company which results in lower prices the same as you see with cell phones and automobiles. Higher prices can also be caused by technological innovations when people are expecting a new product the producer can sell it for a higher price because they know that consumers will spend almost any amont of money to obtain that product. (Amadeo, 2016) Higher demand for new products will increase employment to meet those demands and inflation will rise which will benefit the economy tremendously. Whenever the price level increases, spending must also increase to be able to buy the same amount of goods and