What is the economic consequence of a government budget deficit created by expansionary fiscal policy?

Correct answer: Government spending is in excess of tax revenues.

Explanation

Expansionary fiscal policy, which involves either increasing government spending or decreasing taxes to stimulate the economy, by its nature leads to a budget deficit where government outlays exceed its revenues.

Other questions

Question 1

What are the three main options for an expansionary fiscal policy when a recession occurs?

Question 2

If the economy's MPC is .75, and the government initiates $5 billion of new spending, what will be the total rightward shift of the aggregate demand curve?

Question 3

Why must a tax cut be somewhat larger than a government spending increase to achieve the same amount of rightward shift in the aggregate demand curve?

Question 4

In the context of fiscal policy, what is the 'ratchet effect'?

Question 5

What is a 'built-in stabilizer' in the context of fiscal policy?

Question 6

What is the purpose of using the 'standardized budget' to evaluate fiscal policy?

Question 7

What is the 'recognition lag' in the context of fiscal policy timing problems?

Question 8

What is the 'crowding-out effect' as it relates to fiscal policy?

Question 9

How is the U.S. public debt primarily defined?

Question 10

According to the data for 2007, what percentage of the total U.S. public debt was held by foreigners?

Question 11

What are the two main reasons that a large public debt does not threaten to bankrupt the U.S. Federal government?

Question 12

How can the payment of interest on the public debt contribute to income inequality?

Question 13

To eliminate a $12 billion inflationary GDP gap in an economy with an MPC of .75, by how much should the government decrease its spending?

Question 14

Why are the fiscal policies of state and local governments often described as pro-cyclical?

Question 15

What are public-private complementarities, and how can they affect the crowding-out effect?

Question 16

What is discretionary fiscal policy?

Question 17

If the government wants to increase initial consumption spending by $5 billion and the MPC is .75, by how much should it cut personal income taxes?

Question 18

Which type of fiscal policy would a government use to combat demand-pull inflation?

Question 19

What is meant by a 'cyclical deficit'?

Question 20

According to the text, what happened to the standardized budget in the U.S. between 1993 and 1999?

Question 21

Which timing lag for fiscal policy is associated with the time it takes to pass legislation?

Question 22

What is meant by the term 'political business cycle'?

Question 23

According to the text, why might households not increase their spending much in response to a tax cut they believe is temporary?

Question 24

Which U.S. securities are described as long-term, nonmarketable bonds?

Question 25

What was the total U.S. public debt in 2007?

Question 26

What is the primary burden of the public debt, according to many economists?

Question 27

How does an externally held public debt create an economic burden for Americans?

Question 28

To close a $12 billion inflationary GDP gap in an economy with an MPC of .75, by how much should the government increase taxes?

Question 29

Which of the following best describes the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA)?

Question 31

The operational lag of fiscal policy refers to the time:

Question 32

What type of tax system provides the most built-in stability for an economy?

Question 33

In the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, what form did most of the $152 billion stimulus take?

Question 34

In 2007, what was the value of interest payments on the total U.S. public debt?

Question 35

Which of the following is an example of 'public investment' that could be enabled by public debt?

Question 36

What is the current thinking of most economists regarding the roles of fiscal and monetary policy in stabilization?

Question 37

Which of the following is NOT a reason for the downward inflexibility of prices and wages, according to the text?

Question 38

What is the main reason that expansionary fiscal policy might not be fully effective in stimulating the economy?

Question 39

In 2007, interest payments on the public debt were what percentage of U.S. GDP?

Question 40

How do economists generally view the argument that the public debt is burdening future generations?

Question 41

If the government increases spending by $1.25 billion and reduces taxes by $5 billion, and the MPC is .75, what is the initial increase in new spending?

Question 42

According to the standardized budget data in Table 30.1, what was the status of U.S. fiscal policy in 2003?

Question 43

What are efficiency wages and how do they contribute to downward wage inflexibility?

Question 44

What is the primary difference between how the government refinances the public debt and how it would retire the debt?

Question 45

In the context of the crowding-out effect shown in Figure 30.8, what happens if government borrowing raises the real interest rate from 6 percent to 10 percent along investment demand curve ID1?

Question 46

In the view of economists who think the public sector is too large, what fiscal policy should be used during a recession?

Question 47

Which of the following is a key reason why Social Security surpluses are currently generated in the U.S.?

Question 48

What does a government budget surplus represent?

Question 49

In Figure 30.4b, what does the downward shift of the tax line from T1 to T2 represent?

Question 50

How did the Federal government use fiscal policy in response to the 2001 recession and the September 11 terrorist attacks?