ECO 203 Week 5

ECO 203 Week 5 Final Project

Complete a 5-6 page final paper that completely answers the following:

Economists generally agree that high budget deficits today will reduce the growth rate of the economy in the future. Why? Do the reasons for the high budget deficit matter? In other words, does it matter whether the deficit is caused by lower taxes, increased defense spending, more job-training programs, and so on? In your analysis, what role do fiscal and monetary policies have to lead to higher or lower budget deficits? How do budget deficits affect overall long-term economic growth and the debt that the U.S. has to contend with?

Discussion Questions

Some states are required to balance their budgets. Is this measure stabilizing or destabilizing? Suppose all states were committed to a balanced budget philosophy and the economy moved into a recession. What effects would this philosophy have on the size of the federal deficit?

Between October 2004 and 2005, real GDP in the United States increased by 3.6 percent, while nonfarm payroll jobs increased by only 1.4 percent. How is it possible for output to increase without a proportional increase in the number of workers? What are the implications in our economy of more output being produced by fewer workers?