Budget Options
Author : United States. Congressional Budget Office
Publisher :
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 15,23 MB
Release : 1977
Category : Budget
ISBN :
The Deficit Myth
Author : Stephanie Kelton
Publisher : PublicAffairs
Page : 311 pages
File Size : 37,42 MB
Release : 2020-06-09
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 1541736206
Book Description
A New York Times Bestseller The leading thinker and most visible public advocate of modern monetary theory -- the freshest and most important idea about economics in decades -- delivers a radically different, bold, new understanding for how to build a just and prosperous society. Stephanie Kelton's brilliant exploration of modern monetary theory (MMT) dramatically changes our understanding of how we can best deal with crucial issues ranging from poverty and inequality to creating jobs, expanding health care coverage, climate change, and building resilient infrastructure. Any ambitious proposal, however, inevitably runs into the buzz saw of how to find the money to pay for it, rooted in myths about deficits that are hobbling us as a country. Kelton busts through the myths that prevent us from taking action: that the federal government should budget like a household, that deficits will harm the next generation, crowd out private investment, and undermine long-term growth, and that entitlements are propelling us toward a grave fiscal crisis. MMT, as Kelton shows, shifts the terrain from narrow budgetary questions to one of broader economic and social benefits. With its important new ways of understanding money, taxes, and the critical role of deficit spending, MMT redefines how to responsibly use our resources so that we can maximize our potential as a society. MMT gives us the power to imagine a new politics and a new economy and move from a narrative of scarcity to one of opportunity.
White House Burning
Author : Simon Johnson
Publisher : Vintage
Page : 386 pages
File Size : 44,98 MB
Release : 2013-02-12
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0307947645
Book Description
From the authors of the national bestseller 13 Bankers, a chilling account of America’s unprecedented debt crisis: how it came to pass, why it threatens to topple the nation as a superpower, and what needs to be done about it. With bracing clarity, White House Burning explains why the national debt matters to your everyday life. Simon Johnson and James Kwak describe how the government has been able to pay off its debt in the past, even after the massive deficits incurred as a result of World War II, and analyze why this is near-impossible today. They closely examine, among other factors, macroeconomic shifts of the 1970s, Reaganism and the rise of conservatism, and demographic changes that led to the growth of major—and extremely popular—social insurance programs. What is unquestionably clear is how recent financial turmoil exacerbated the debt crisis while creating a political climate in which it is even more difficult to solve.
The Liquidation of Government Debt
Author : Ms.Carmen Reinhart
Publisher : International Monetary Fund
Page : 47 pages
File Size : 27,57 MB
Release : 2015-01-21
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 1498338380
Book Description
High public debt often produces the drama of default and restructuring. But debt is also reduced through financial repression, a tax on bondholders and savers via negative or belowmarket real interest rates. After WWII, capital controls and regulatory restrictions created a captive audience for government debt, limiting tax-base erosion. Financial repression is most successful in liquidating debt when accompanied by inflation. For the advanced economies, real interest rates were negative 1⁄2 of the time during 1945–1980. Average annual interest expense savings for a 12—country sample range from about 1 to 5 percent of GDP for the full 1945–1980 period. We suggest that, once again, financial repression may be part of the toolkit deployed to cope with the most recent surge in public debt in advanced economies.
Do Deficits Matter?
Author : Daniel Shaviro
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 362 pages
File Size : 31,35 MB
Release : 1997-05
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780226751122
Book Description
Do deficits matter? Yes and no, says Daniel Shaviro in this political and economic study. Yes, because fiscal policy affects generational distribution, national saving, and the level of government spending. And no, because the deficit is an inaccurate measure with little economic content. This book provides an invaluable guide for anyone wanting to know exactly what is at stake for Americans in this ongoing debate. "[An] excellent, comprehensive, and illuminating book. Its analysis, deftly integrating considerations of economics, law, politics, and philosophy, brings the issues of 'balanced budgets,' national saving, and intergenerational equity out of the area of religious crusades and into an arena of reason. . . . A magnificent, judicious, and balanced treatment. It should be read and studied not just by specialists in fiscal policy but by all those in the economic and political community."—Robert Eisner, Journal of Economic Literature "Shaviro's history, economics, and political analysis are right on the mark. For all readers."—Library Journal
Fiscal Therapy
Author : William G. Gale
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 362 pages
File Size : 25,57 MB
Release : 2019-03-01
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0190645431
Book Description
Keeping the economy strong will require addressing two distinct but related problems. Steadily rising federal debt makes it harder to grow our economy, boost our living standards, respond to wars or recessions, address social needs, and maintain our role as a global leader. At the same time, we have let critical investments lag and left many people behind even as overall prosperity has grown. In Fiscal Therapy, William Gale, a leading authority on how federal tax and budget policy affects the economy, provides a trenchant discussion of the challenges posed by the imbalances between spending and revenue. America is facing a gradual decline as debt accumulates and delay raises the costs of action. But there is hope: fiscal responsibility aligns with both conservative and liberal goals and citizens of all stripes can support the notion of making life better for our children and grandchildren. Gale provides a plan to make the economy and nation stronger, one that controls entitlement spending but preserves and enhances their anti-poverty and social insurance roles, increases public investments on human and physical capital, and raises and reforms taxes to pay for government services in a fair and efficient way. What is needed, he argues, is to balance today's needs against tomorrow's obligations. We face significant fiscal challenges but, if we are wise enough to seize our opportunities, we can strengthen our economy, increase opportunity, reduce inequality, and build better lives for our children and grandchildren. We do not have to kill popular programs or starve government. Indeed, one main goal of fiscal reform is to maintain the vital functions that government provides. We need to act responsibly, pay for the government we want, and shape that government in ways that serve us best.
Restoring Fiscal Sanity
Author : Alice M. Rivlin
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 142 pages
File Size : 23,18 MB
Release : 2004-03-29
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780815796398
Book Description
The United States is standing at a critical juncture in its fiscal outlook. After experiencing a brief period of budget surpluses at the turn of the century, the federal government will run deficits that add about $4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. Substantial deficits will likely continue long into the future because the looming retirement of the baby boom generation will raise spending in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. At the same time, the federal government appears to be neglecting spending in key areas of social and economic policy. The nation thus faces a vital choice: continue down a path toward future fiscal crisis while under investing in critical areas, or increase resources in high-priority areas while also reducing the overall budget deficit. This choice will materially affect Americans' economic status and security in the immediate future as well as over long horizons. In R estoring Fiscal Sanity, a group of Brookings scholars with high-level government experience provide an overview of the country's likely medium- and long-term spending needs and the resources available to pay for them. They propose three alternative fiscal paths that are more responsible than the current path. One plan emphasizes spending cuts, the second emphasizes revenue increases, and a third is a balanced mix between the two. The contributors address the policy choices in such areas as defense, homeland security, international assistance, and programs targeted to the less advantaged, the elderly, and other domestic priorities. In the process, they provide an understanding of the short- and long-run trade offs and illustrate how the budget can be reshaped to achieve high priority objectives in a fiscally responsible way.
Red Ink
Author : David Wessel
Publisher : Crown Pub
Page : 210 pages
File Size : 39,72 MB
Release : 2012
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0770436145
Book Description
Presents a narrative analysis of the federal budget that reveals how funds were actually spent in 2011, evaluating the roles of such contributors as Jacob Lew, Douglas Elmendorf, and Pete Peterson.
Public Principles of Public Debt
Author : James M. Buchanan
Publisher :
Page : 169 pages
File Size : 49,6 MB
Release : 1999
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780865972162
Book Description
Public Principles of Public Debt is one of James M. Buchanan’s most important and influential books. The radical idea he conceived was that: our reliance on public debt has amassed a sort of orthodoxy that is commonly--and needlessly--assumed by taxpayers, by politicians, and by economists themselves. Buchanan dismisses the nearly universal belief (which continues to this day) that the burden of debt is borne by the current generation, and he argues persuasively that public debt is shouldered in large part by generations still to come. Written in 1958, this book represents Buchanan’s first published monograph, and its publication met with much controversy, confusion, and speculation in the economic community. But the book also added to Buchanan’s rising stature in the early part of his career as a brilliant and original thinker. The arguments Buchanan lays out in this book had a considerable impact on much of his later work. Buchanan’s object here is to establish a set of analytical claims about debt incidence. Current anxieties over implicit Social Security debt are clear indications of the rightness of Buchanan’s then-revolutionary theory. James M. Buchanan is an eminent economist who won the Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1986 and is considered one of the greatest scholars of liberty in the twentieth century. The entire series includes: Volume 1: The Logical Foundations of Constitutional Liberty Volume 2: Public Principles of Public Debt Volume 3: The Calculus of Consent Volume 4: Public Finance in Democratic Process Volume 5: The Demand and Supply of Public Goods Volume 6: Cost and Choice Volume 7: The Limits of Liberty Volume 8: Democracy in Deficit Volume 9: The Power to Tax Volume 10: The Reason of Rules Volume 11: Politics by Principle, Not Interest Volume 12: Economic Inquiry and Its Logic Volume 13: Politics as Public Choice Volume 14: Debt and Taxes Volume 15: Externalities and Public Expenditure Theory Volume 16: Choice, Contract, and Constitutions Volume 17: Moral Science and Moral Order Volume 18: Federalism, Liberty, and the Law Volume 19: Ideas, Persons, and Events Volume 20: Indexes
The Budget Deficit and the National Debt
Author : Kenneth W. Thompson
Publisher :
Page : 200 pages
File Size : 41,79 MB
Release : 1997
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN :
Book Description
The Budget Deficit and National Debt analyzes and attempts to better understand the problems associated with the debt and deficit. The theme of this book parallels the Miller Center's primary focus on governance and the presidency. The president is a key actor in submitting, approving, and administrating the budget. Therefore, the study of debt and deficit is in keeping with the Miller Center's focus on governance and the presidency. The book is divided into four sections. The first section discusses the debt and deficit from a variety of political perspectives and ideological approaches. Three contributors, representing different schools of thought and professional backgrounds, provide separate frameworks for considering the budget and deficit. The first section contrasts liberal, conservative, and independent views and compares the effects of the deficit on federal and local governments. The second section provides an overview of the origins and growth of the deficit and its effect on the U.S. economy. The authors outline interaction among and competition between economic and political forces operating in the United States, and they debate the merits of deficit reduction proposals. The third section examines the economic and political ramifications of the deficit, reviewing tactical and strategic errors and their consequences. The book concludes with a discussion of the political struggle over controlling the deficit and chronicles the ambitions and rivalries of two key political figures--Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich. Their dispute over the seven year balanced-budget plan had significant influence on the policies of debt and deficit.
