Unit 3: Government Budget Spending, Consumption Demand, and Investment Demand Flashcards
Deficit (Surplus) Definition
the annual difference between government spending and government tax revenue.
Debt (Conc.)
The debt is total sum of past deficits minus the total sum of past surpluses.
Two Primary Components of Government Spending
- Purchases of Goods and Services
- Transfer Payments
Federal Purchases of Goods and Services
Federal Transfer Payments
Federal Government Receipts (3)
How long has the government run a deficit (except for what period?)
State and Local Purchases of goods and Services
State and Local Transfer Payments
State and Local Government Receipts
Pros of Balanced Budget Amendments
It prevents politicians from passing policy today in order to get high favorability without any regard to the future.
Cons of Balanced Budget Amendments
It causes the economy to be highly procyclical as spending is high and people are hired when the economy does well and spending is low and people are fired during recessions.
Cyclical Deficit
Depends on what Assumption?
It depends on the assumptions that we know what potential output is.
Budget deficit (surplus) (Alg.)
Tax revenue moves ___ with the economy. Often, the percent change in tax receipts is ____ than the percentage change in output. Why?
Because Taxes = t x Y in the model.
What is one reason the average tax rate (t) fluctuates more than output?
It automatically adjusts with income because of the progressive income tax system in the US. (Rise in t → Rise in Y).
What is a discretionary policy choice that causes t to move with Y?
Governments will typically adjust t in order to increase output during recessions.
Relationship between Tax Receipts to GDP and the Unemployment Rate
Government purchases do not respond very much to ______. Instead, they respond most to changes in ______.
business cycle fluctuations; defense spending.
Transfer payment move ______in order to dampen fluctuations in the economy.
countercyclically;
Automatic Stabilizers in terms of transfer payment programs (Conc.)
Most transfer payment programs that automatically increase as output falls without discretionary intervention by the government.
Examples of transfer payment programs
unemployment insurance, food stamps, welfare programs, Medicare, and Social Security.
Relationship of government transfers to GDP and the unemployment rate (Graph)
The federal government can finance its debt by issuing (2)
- Interest-bearing bonds
- Non-interest bearing money
The deficit tends to ___ during recessions (expansions) as ___ _____ government spending and as tax revenue _____.
rise (fall); automatic stabilizers push up (down); falls (rises)
Full employment or structural deficit
the size the deficit would be at if the economy were at full employment
Cyclical Deficit
the amount of deficit that is attributed to the deviation of output from its potential.
Actual Deficit
The sum of the structural and cyclical deficits.
Our model says that an increase in the deficit ________ which causes the interest rate ____.
reduces government savings; to rise.
Empirical evidence, however, shows that interest rates tend to ___ when the budget is in deficit.
fall
Two important things to note about the relationship between the deficit and interest rates. (Once conceptual about IS Curve and the other historical).
Graph showing relationship between budget deficit and interest rates (US)
Government’s budget constraint equation of Debt at the start of next year (Alg.)
Current Period Budget Deficit (BD) (Alg.)
Data on the federal deficit and the debt
Shifts of the IS curve. (Increase in G and Decrease in T)
Two ways automatic Stabilizers impact slope of the IS Curve.
Effect of Rise in R with and without Automatic Stabilizers (Alg.)