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An article in the Wall Street Journal in 2015 noted that an official of the European Union was forecasting that "Greece faces two years of recession amid sharp budget cuts."

Source: Gabriele Steinhauser and Andrea Thomas, "Greece Faces Two-Year Recession amid Bailout​ Cuts," Wall Street Journal, August 12, 2015.

During a recession, a government's budget deficit will

A.remain constant because the economy is producing at less than its potential.

B.increase as there are more government expenditures for income support programs and less tax revenue as income falls.

C.at first decreases as the recession takes its hold, then increase once economic activity begins to increase.

D.decrease as there are fewer government expenditures for income support programs and more tax revenue as income falls.

The Greek government responded to the recession by cutting its budget in contrast to the typical response, which is to

A. borrow less. The Greek government wanted to borrow more to pay down its high debt.

B.raise taxes. Tax rates in Greece were already at historically high levels.

C.spend more. Historically high overspending had weakened its economy.

D.lower taxes. Tax rates in Greece were already at historically low levels.

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28 Sep 2019

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Related questions

40. If the inflation rate falls below the rate that is expected, which of the following will happen?
A) inflationary expectations will increase and the Phillips curve will shift downward in the short run
B) inflationary expectations will decrease and the short-run Phillips curve will shift downward in the long run
C) inflationary expectations will decrease and the short-run Phillips curve will shift upward in the long run
D) inflationary expectations will increase and the Phillips curve will shift upward in the short run
E) inflationary expectations will decrease and the Phillips curve will shift downward in the short run

41. Which case represents the largest increase in the real national debt?
A) the price level increases by 500 percent and nominal debt increases by 500 percent
B) the price level increases by 200 percent and nominal debt increases by 600 percent
C) the price level decreases by 50 percent and nominal debt increases by 300 percent
D) the price level increases by 400 percent and nominal debt increases by 200 percent
E) the price level decreases by 90 percent and nominal debt increases by 200 percent

42. Which of the following is a transfer payment?
A) the federal government's budget deficit
B) unemployment compensation payments
C) military spending
D) wages of government employees
E) the excise tax on gasoline

43. One problem with using countercyclical fiscal policy is that
A) it may take months for the policy to be enacted
B) the policy may take effect too quickly
C) the money supply cannot be changed until several months have passed
D) tax cuts must be matched with spending changes
E) it has no effect on consumption spending

44. Suppose you are the president of a large bank. In which situation would you be most reluctant to loan money to a country?
A) its nominal debt is $10 trillion
B) its nominal debt is 1 percent of nominal GDP
C) its nominal deficit is $150 billion
D) its real deficit is 100 percent of real GDP
E) its real debt is 1 percent of real GDP

45. The national debt
A) can be paid off without major economic effects
B) need never be paid off
C) is no more serious a problem than is a corporation's debt
D) should not exist during a period of economic prosperity
E) is the simple sum of post budget deficits

46. Tax avoidance
A) reduces the difference between the average and marginal tax rates
B) increases federal revenue when it reduces the need for IRS workers
C) reduces federal revenue but does not affect tax progressivity
D) makes the tax system less progressive
E) makes the tax system more progressive

47. The national debt
A) is currently greater than the annual federal deficit
B) is reduced by the revenue generated from the federal deficit
C) decreases as the deficit is reduced
D) is a flow variable
E) varies depending on developments in the stock market

48. In the long run,
A) a larger budget deficit means a larger money supply
B) lower investment spending means slower growth of the standard of living
C) a larger budget deficit means higher consumption spending
D) a larger budget surplus means a smaller capital stock
E) government spending has no effect on the budget deficit or surplus

49. In an expansion,
A) federal budget deficits tend to rise
B) federal budget deficits tend to fall
C) the federal debt tends to rise faster than in a recession
D) federal government tax receipts tend to fall
E) there is pressure on the Fed to monetize the debt

50. Which of the following is not considered an automatic stabilizer?
A) food stamp program for people with low incomes
B) welfare program for families with dependent children
C) Medicaid, a health program for the poor
D) financial assistance for disabled people
E) unemployment programs that pay benefits to those who lose their jobs

1. Which of the following shifts aggregate demand to the right?
a. Congress reduces purchases of new weapons systems.
b. US exports increase.
c. The price level falls
d. New developments in IT increase the productivity of most manufacturing industries in the US.

2. Suppose the EPA introduces new smog regulation that makes it costlier to produce cars. As a result, aggregate supply falls (primary effect) and firms cut back on production. With less output in the economy available for consumers, consumers bid up the prices of available output. With higher prices, firms choose to produce more (secondary effect).
Which of the following best explains what the net effect on GDP?
a. The two effects should essentially cancel out, with little to no effect on GDP, but the price level clearly rises.
b. It is impossible to say what happens to GDP without being able to compare the magnitudes of the two effects.
c. Real GDP rises as the secondary effect dominates the primary effect.
d. Real GDP falls since the primary effect dominates the secondary effect.

3. A Keynesian economist who observes an output gap would conclude that
a. aggregate demand should be shifted to the right.
b. a policy of deregulation would be better than demand management policy
c. aggregate supply should be shifted to the right
d. All proposed answer options are correct

4. Monetarists believe
a. the Aggregate Supply curve is upward-sloping (but not vertical) over all time frames.
b. the Aggregate Supply curve can be treated as horizontal in the long run (over 10 years
c. the Aggregate Supply curve is vertical only in the very long run (over 20 years).
d. the Aggregate Supply curve can be treated as vertical in the short-to-medium run (1-2 years)

5. Suppose the price of oil increases due to conflict in the Middle East. How will this be illustrated in the AD-AS model?
a. The aggregate demand curve will shift to the left
b. The aggregate supply curve will shift to the left.
c. The aggregate demand curve will shift to the right
d. The aggregate supply curve will shift to the right

6. Assume a Keynesian AS curve. In the short run, when there is a large output gap
a. contractionary demand management policy is likely to be highly inflationary
b. expansionary demand management policy does not cause much inflation.
c. expansionary demand management policy is likely to be highly inflationary
d. the government should use contractionary demand management policy

7. As a result of Bush tax cuts that partially expired in January 2013, the marginal tax rates for some households increased and these households paid higher taxes. Which of the following would be the best description of the tax cut expiration?
a. Rightward shift in AS
b. Rightward shift in AD
c. Leftward shift in AD
d. Leftward shift in AS

8. Suppose that the U.S. government increases income taxes on individuals earning more than $500,000/year and uses the revenue from this tax increase to subsidize the cost of energy for businesses. How will this policy change affect the U.S. economy?
a. The effect on output is ambiguous but price level will decrease for sure
b. The effect on both output and price level is ambiguous.
c. The effect on price level is ambiguous but output will increase for sure
d. The effect on price level is ambiguous but output will decrease for sure

9. If Australia, which imports goods from the United States, went into recession, we would expect that U.S. net exports would
a. rise, making aggregate demand shift right.
b. rise, making aggregate demand shift left
c. fall, making aggregate demand shift left
d. fall, making aggregate demand shift right

10. Suppose that Greece decides to exit the European Union and the Euro Zone, causing a boost in business confidence in European markets. How would you illustrate the primary effect of Greece’s decision in the AD-AS model for the EU economy?

Note: for this question, assume that Y in the AD-AS model represents output (GDP) of EU member countries without Greece.
a. a shift in the aggregate supply curve to the left and a shift in the aggregate demand curve to the left
b. a shift in the aggregate demand curve to the right
c. a shift in the aggregate demand curve to the left
d. movement along the aggregate demand curve to the left

11. The Austrian school of thought believes that demand management policy should not be used because
a. big government prefers deregulation, which shifts aggregate supply
b. the economy is always at full employment
c. shifting AD to the right is likely to cause deflation
d. big government has a bias towards inflationary policy

Learn more about Social Security and Medicare reform (to improve financial strength of the programs) or solvency through Internet exploration. Find an article or resource related to one of these topics. Attach the article and write a brief summary (300-400 words) of what you found. Summarize the Article.

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

U.S. Social Security reform: the clock is ticking

Clocks are seen during the performance "tck tck tck" by Global Campaign for Climate Action at the Barcelona Climate Change Talks, November 4, 2009. REUTERS/Albert Gea

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Can you count on your Social Security benefits when retirement rolls around?

Most Americans worry about this - partly due to the nonsense they hear from political opponents of Social Security and ill-informed media. You will hear that the program is bankrupt, its reserves are nothing but a bunch of IOUs, or that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme.

All of those claims are false, but there is one good reason for concern. Social Security faces a long-term financial imbalance that would force sharp benefit cuts in 2034 unless the government makes changes. The problem stems from falling fertility rates and labor force growth - which reduces collection of payroll taxes that fund the system - and also from the retirement of baby boomers, which increases benefit costs.

Absent reform, Social Security could continue to pay roughly 75 percent of promised benefits. The cuts would mean that the typical 65-year-old worker could expect Social Security to replace 27 percent of pre-retirement income, down from 36 percent today, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

No surprise, then, that only 37 percent of workers are “very or somewhat confident” that Social Security will be able to maintain current benefit levels in the future, according to survey research by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) - although confidence is much higher among older workers and retirees.

From a math standpoint, potential solutions to the problem are straightforward. The cuts can be avoided through increased revenue, benefit reductions or some combination of the two. But the politics are another matter.

Republicans are far from holding a unified position on the issue. For example, U.S. Representative Sam Johnson, a Texas Republican who chairs the House Ways and Means subcommittee on Social Security, has proposed legislation containing two significant benefit cuts: gradually raising full retirement ages to 69 by 2030, and using a less generous annual cost-of-living adjustment formula known as the chained CPI.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has so far held to his campaign promise of opposing cuts. He has suggested that economic growth will solve the problem by stimulating wage growth and payroll tax collections - a position most economists dismiss as unrealistic.

REPUBLICAN ENTHUSIASM LACKING

The last major Republican reform proposal dates back to the George W. Bush administration, which proposed shifting the program to personal savings accounts - an idea that aroused Republican passion but that went down in flames.

“That was an idea that got people excited, but there hasn’t been much enthusiasm for Social Security reform among Republicans since then,” said Andrew Biggs, resident scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. Biggs worked on Social Security reform as an associate director of the White House National Economic Council.

Meanwhile, Democrats are in no mood to work with the Trump administration on anything that forces a compromise on their core values - and they have shifted significantly to the left on Social Security reform. Representative John Larson has introduced legislation that would not only restore trust fund balance but expand benefits. That is by far the best approach, since roughly half of all households have saved less than $25,000, according to EBRI. Larson’s bill is cosponsored by more than 80 percent of the Democratic House caucus - more than any previous expansion bill.

The bill would increase benefits by 2 percent across the board, shift to a more generous annual cost-of-living adjustment that reflects spending by seniors and set a new minimum benefit at 25 percent above the poverty line. It also would cut taxes for millions of retirees by boosting significantly the threshold for taxation of benefits.

The plan raises revenue by gradually increasing the payroll tax rates that fund the program. The rate hikes would begin in 2019, and by 2042, workers and employers would pay 7.4 percent each, instead of the current 6.2 percent.

Larson, a Connecticut Democrat, also proposes changes to the payroll tax cap for very wealthy beneficiaries. Currently, payroll tax is collected only on wages up to $127,200; the plan would start collecting taxes again on wages above $400,000. That exempts more income than many earlier expansion plans, which either removed the cap entirely or resumed taxation at $250,000.

The payroll tax cap feature played an important role in boosting support for expansion legislation, according to Max Richtman, CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, a progressive advocacy group that supports the bill. “It brought many of the more conservative Democratic legislators on board,” he said.

Of course, the Larson bill is going nowhere in the Republican-controlled Congress, so Social Security reform will not happen before the 2018 midterm elections at the earliest - and perhaps much later than that. But that does not mean beneficiaries should worry about draconian cuts in 2034.

Even if reform is not achieved by 2034, Biggs thinks the problem likely would be solved at the 11th hour through tax increases - simply because benefit cuts must be enacted and phased in over long periods to give beneficiaries time to adjust.

”If they were going to do this by cutting benefits, it should have been enacted 20 years ago,“ he said. ”If you want to do it by raising taxes you want to wait as long as possible, so that you get to the point where the only solution is to put more money into the program.”

But the uncertainty on Social Security policy will continue to undermine public confidence in the program - and that is worrying. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking.

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