Fiscal Policy Essays (Examples)

Fiscal Policies

There are many issues within the context of federal fiscal policy that are complicated and technical, which is why lay people likely don't fully understand those policies and practices and problems. Those issues are fully flushed out in this paper.

Question ONE (a): Explain the problem of time lags that occur in the enacting and applying fiscal policy. Nadia Macdonald explains in her book (Macroeconomics and Business: an Interactive Approach) that time lags occur because it takes -- in many cases -- a "long time for the government machinery to produce outcomes" (Macdonald, 1999, 141). The government machinery she is referring to is the legislative process (that is, a bill produced by the executive branch or by a member of Congress has to work though committees, through debates, before it is finally acted upon by vote), the "bureaucracy" and the "red tape" that is inevitably involved in new…

Works Cited

Macdonald, Nadia Tempini. (1999). Macroeconomics and Business: An Interactive Approach.

Andover, UK: Cengage Learning EMEA.

Mukherjee, Sampat. (2002). ISC Economics for Class Xii. Mumbai, India: Allied Publishers.

O'Connor, David Edward, and Faille, Christopher C. (2000). Basic Economic Principles: A

Fiscal and Monetary Policy

How is a recession defined? Is the U.S. currently in a recession? Explain.

The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is widely recognized as the arbiter of starting and ending dates of U.S. recessions (Burtless, G. April 19, 2010). As such, NBER indicates, recessions start at the peak of a business cycle and end at the trough; and are a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales (National Bureau of Economic Research. 2011). The last U.S. recession, coined the Great Recession, ended in June 2009, 18 months after the economy began sliding into a downturn in December 2007 (Murray, S. September 21, 2010) according to NBER.

While more than eight in 10 Americans think the economy is in another recession, according to a new CNN/ORC…

"Fiscal policy refers to the government's choices regarding the overall level of government purchases or taxes" (Mankiw, G.N. 2004). Reviewing the 2011 Obama Budget of 3.69 trillion (The New York Times. February 1, 2010), an immediate consideration regarding the outlays is that mandatory spending: Social Security, Medicare, Interest on Debt; 64% of the total proposed budget, is effectively off limits to changes. The remaining discretionary spending of 1.415 trillion is available as a fiscal tool (The Washington Post.com. 2010). Certainly, the President could propose additional spending measures such as his American Jobs Act released in September 2011.

Concomitant to discretionary spending is the revenue collected by the Federal Government in taxes, 2.57 trillion in the 2011 Obama budget (The Washington Post.com. 2010). One of the prominent fiscal tools the President has utilized is deficit spending, 1.27 trillion in the proposed budget to stimulate the economy (The Washington Post.com. 2010). Government spending reflects a belief in the multiplier demonstrated by "additional shifts in aggregate demand when expansionary fiscal policy increases income and thereby increases consumer spending" (Mankiw, G.N. 2004). There is debate over the size of the multiplier; Keynesians contend it is greater than one, while supply- side economists believe the coefficient is significantly less than one. While this debate is important, the reality is that Congress and the President will not agree on further government spending to stimulate the economy, given the deficit and the explosion of debt past 15 trillion dollars.

The other fiscal policy tool available for use is tax cuts, which allow individuals and businesses to keep more of the money they earn, a portion of which will be saved, and a part which will be spent. The consumption side will lead to increased aggregate demand allowing the economy to grow. In the longer-term though the reduction in marginal tax rates will engender an environment leading to greater incentives to work, save, and invest. Tax cuts though must strive to be revenue neutral from an accounting perspective, with the understanding that there will be a strong economic effect. The

Fiscal and Monetary Policy in a Fictitious Economic Scenario

Recently, all of all Street waited with bated breath for Allen Greenspan to announce what would be the shift in the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy regarding interest rates, given that our national economy was apparently recovering at a much stronger than expected pace. Dismayed at the news that the Fed was likely to raise rates, thus encouraging saving and tempering consumer spending, the stock market temporarily took a nosedive. It was speculated that this information might have been leaked, to assess all Street's reaction to a possible rate hike. The Fed retracted its position, slightly.

This recent dialogue of public relations and monetary policy highlights the impact even suggestions by the federal government and the Federal Reserve chairman regarding national fiscal and monetary policy respectively can have upon the nation. Fiscal policy is the use of government spending and taxes to…

Works Cited

FRBSF. (2004) "How the Fed Guides Monetary Policy." Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Website.  http://www.frbsf.org/publications/federalreserve/fedinbrief/guides.html 

Herman-Ellison, Lisa. (February 7, 2003). "Fiscal and Monetary Processes." National Council on Economic Education. NCEE Website.  http://www.frbsf.org/publications/education/greateconomists/grtschls.html#A8

Policy Problem & Proposal

Policy Problem

The United States faces a $1.4 trillion national deficit, and partisan debate about how to address it is threatening economic stability on top of the shaky "recovery" from the 2009 financial crisis. Yet American corporations continue to enjoy tax loopholes that reduce their taxes to unprecedented low levels. epublicans argue that corporations must retain their preferred tax status in order to maintain and create jobs. This tax policy has been known by a number of names: supply-side economics, trickle-down theory, and horse and sparrow theory. It has not been without its critics, yet, irrationally, the practice of permitting tax loopholes continues to prevail from time-to-time.

"As for the growth enhancing effects of lower tax rates, just look to the 2000s for the latest persuasive evidence to the contrary. After the Bush tax cuts on the progressive rates paid by the wealthy, GDP between 2001…

References

Advance Pricing Agreement Quarterly Reports, Internal Revenue Service. Retrieved  http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-apa/ 

Announcement and report concerning advance pricing agreements. (2011, March 29). § 521(b) of Pub. L. 106-170, Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999. Retrieved  http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/2010statutoryreport.pdf 

Brehm, J., and Gates, S. (1997). Working, Shirking, and Sabotage: Bureaucratic

Response to a Democratic Public. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan

Inflation remains low because of the seemingly unchanging rate of unemployment and income. In addition, the low inflation rate is associated with the slow economic activity during the winter months because of adverse weather conditions (Liu, 2014). One of the major reasons for the minimal changes in U.S. interest rates as compared to five years ago is the slow recovery in the housing sector. The housing sector continues to slowly recover from the effects of the 2008 global recession. This rate of recovery has had significant effects on the country economy as evident in the low interest rates.

Strategies to Encourage Consumer Spending:

The Federal eserve can use fiscal and monetary policy to develop strategies that will encourage people to spend money in order to stimulate economic growth. One of these strategies, which is a fiscal policy initiative, is government tax cuts that enhances the buying power of consumers. Tax…

References:

Liu, H. (2014, April 28). Trading the U.S. FOMC Interest Rate Decision, April 30, 2014.

Retrieved April 28, 2014, from  http://www.investing.com/analysis/trading-the-us-fomc-interest-rate-decision,-april-30,-2014-210865 

Pettinger, T. (2012, May 18). Policies for Economic Growth. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from  http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/5272/economics/policies-for-economic-growth/ 

Yellen. (2014, March 19). Transcript of Chair Yellen's Press Conference. Retrieved from The

fiscal and monetary policy.

On the most basic level, the primary difference between fiscal and monetary policy is that fiscal policy pertains to the actions of the federal government designed to influence the national economy through government spending and taxation while monetary policy refers to the actions of the central bank to govern the money supply. Tight or restrictive monetary and fiscal policy is used to curb inflation; a liberal monetary and fiscal policy is used as an economic stimulus (What is the difference between fiscal and monetary policy, 2002, As Dr. Econ).

2-Compare and contrast Keynes and Hayek

According to Keynes, it was sometimes necessary for the federal government to take a role in managing the economy, to correct the ebbs and flows of the business cycle. During severe recessions consumers became wary about losing their jobs, stopped spending money, and this further curtailed economic growth. Eventually, more and…

References

Koehn, Nancy. (2011). Tale of the dueling economists. The New York Times. Retrieved:

 http://www.nytimes.com /2011/10/23/business/keynes-hayek-views-origins-of-an-economics-debate-review.html?_r=1&ref=books

Nasar, Sylvia. (2011). Hayek, Keynes and How to Prevent Economic Crises. Bloomberg.

Retrieved:  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-09-13/hayek-keynes-and-preventing-economic-crises-commentary-by-sylvia-nasar.html

Fiscal and Monetary Issues in America

Economics

There are high tensions in the American economy today resulting from speculations whether the government will be able to hit the debt ceiling. Failure to hit the debt ceiling has serious economic effects to many sectors of the economy both in the United States and various countries of the world. Political disagreements regarding the budget delay decision-making process as the date ceiling draws closer each day. The government debt will cause disruption and failures in the U.S. market system and beyond because some rates will double while others will completely fall. The consequences of these are both the government and private sector failures and the economy will not be in a position to sustain itself. Government securities will lose market value and the cost of bonds will double because of the risk premiums. The result of this is government deficits, which will require…

References

Eichner, A.S., & Kregel, J.A. (1975). An essay on post-Keynesian theory: a new paradigm in economics. Journal of Economic Literature, 13 (4), 1293-1314.

Moseley, F. (1995). Heterodox Economic Theories: True or False?. Brookfield: Edward Edger

Publishing

Lee, F & Bekken, J. (2009). Radical Economics and Labor. New York: Routledge Publishing.

In turn, low consumption leads to low level of economic growth, but also to low inflation. Gross Domestic Product is also distorted by taxation, as every integrant component - consumption, investment, savings and net foreign position are deeply influenced, directly or indirectly, by level of taxes. A liberal fiscal policy, with lower taxes, encourages individuals and companies to develop and register important economic growth rates, but induces an increasing inflation rate.

Federal Policy

The Employment Act after World War 2 and the Full Employment and alanced Growth Act made it a goal of the federal government to achieve full employment and price stability. According to economists and statisticians, the full employment figure is set at 3-4%, not at 0% unemployment as it could be believed. This 3-4% is also called normal unemployment rate, and is one of the desiderates that was put into practice following the World War II. However,…

Bibliography

1) Bruce D. Meyer & Dan T. Rosenbaum, 1999. "

Welfare, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Labor Supply of Single Mothers,"

NBER Working Papers 7363, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

2) Albert Rees, 1973. "

Socioeconomics and Fiscal Policy

Current Events Article eview

One of the more interesting discussions occurring relative to the purpose and effective use of fiscal policy in today's macroeconomic environment is arguably occurring inside the European Union (EU). There is a high level debate that is ongoing about the future of the EU after various economic crises that have emerged such in Greece, most notably, but also in other economies such as Spain. Some argue that the since the European Union is made up of independent nations with their own elected governments, their problems are going to be essentially local and they will need local solutions that any policies from a centralized financial system that sets fiscal policies for all the EU nations could ever possibly address (Debating Europe, N.d.).

There are many ideological objections to the fiscal union that is being formed that lie outside its potential effectiveness, such as…

References

Coeure, B. (2016, March 21). The future of the euro area. Retrieved from European Central Bank:  https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2016/html/sp160321.en.html 

Debating Europe. (N.d.). Arguments for and against fiscal union. Retrieved from Debating Europe:  http://www.debatingeurope.eu/focus/infobox-arguments-for-and-against-fiscal-union/

economic situation in the United States is favorable compared with five years ago. Five years ago, it was late 2009 and in the depths of the Great ecession, so performing better than those levels is no great achievement. But as a point of comparison, all metrics are better today. The annualized rate of GDP increase in the third quarter of 2014 was 3.9%, down from 4.6% in the second quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (2014). In 2009, the Q3 GDP was 1.7%, which is a low number, but at the time represented positive growth following three straight quarters of declines. Thus, technically, Q3 2009 was when we emerged from recession (Treasury, 2012). GDP growth in the interim has been uneven, but the past couple of quarters indicate healthy, manageable growth that should not lead to runaway inflation.

Unemployment, which is a lagging indicator, is 5.8% as of…

References

BEA. (2014). National income and product accounts, 3rd quarter 2014. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Retrieved November 25, 2014 from  http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/gdpnewsrelease.htm 

BLS. (2014). Consumer Price Index Summary. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved November 25, 2014 from  http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm 

BLS. (2014). Unemployment rate. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved November 25, 2014 from  http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14 

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. (2013). Why does the Federal Reserve aim for 2% inflation over time? Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

To increase effective demand, Keynesians believe the government must balance the economy with deficit and increase expenditure. However, the constant alternation between booms and recession is causing the booms to get shorter while the recessions become longer. This phenomenon is the result of empirical evidence that indicates that in the end, the interest rates decrease.

However, this situation creates a problem of capitalism as the rich increase their wealth while financial deficit worsens. Minsky adopted the perspective of Keynesians, hypothesized financial instability, as the finance and money that connects the present with the future, but the future is uncertain. Minsky finds the problem of financial stability is in financing. However, financial instability increases under contemporary capitalism, which increases economic crisis. This leads to the conclusion that to solve economic crisis, there is a need to reduce financing and take up investments in real economy.

This is in contrast to the…

Works Cited

Cynamon, B.Z. And S.M. Fazzari (2008) "Household Debt in the Consumer Age: Source of Growth- Risk of Collapse," Capitalism and Society, Revised Chapter 6.

Cynamon, B.Z. And S.M. Fazzari and Setterfield, M "Understanding the Great Recession" CFS Chapter 1.

Fazzari, S.M. "The Legacy of Hyman Minsky and the Great Recession" Video Lecture, Washington University in St. Louis

Setterfiled, M. (2010) "Wages, Demand, and U.S. Macroeconomic Travails: Diagnosis and Prognosis," CFS Book.

Fiscal and Monetary Policy and Economic Fluctuations

The global economy was relatively doing fine more than five years ago before it was hit by economic downturn or recession. During this period, the American economy was at its peak, particularly in the fourth quarter of 2007. However, this was followed by a mild recession at the beginning of 2008, which eventually turned into a severe credit crisis across the world approximately one year later. While only a few countries escaped the economic recession, virtually no country could avoid the severe bear markets in stock (Norris, 2012). Some countries like the United States experienced changes in gross domestic product and stock markets. Since it has the best record of the main developed countries, the United States was severely affected by the recession. As the economic downturn came to end, America started the process of recovery from the effects of the recession. This…

References:

Davidson, P. (2013, September 11). Economy is Still Bruised Five Years After Crisis. USA

Today. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from  http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/09/10/economy-2008-financial-crisis-lehman/2789841/ 

Klimasinska, K. & Chandra, S. (2013, August 27). America Resilient Five Years After Great

Recession. Bloomberg. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-27/america-resilient-five-years-after-great-recession.html

Foremost, when they occur, they generate massive financial setbacks for the institution implementing them as they generally require a large sum of money. "It is difficult to properly handle investments in public budgets. The rewards are spread out over an extended period of time while the cost or the pain of investing is immediate. That makes if difficult to finance public investments" (Penner, 2008).

For the state and local governments to be able to fund their investments, they should organize their incomes into two categories: current operating capital and capital component. A simple accounting method would help them benefit immediately from the investment. In this order of ideas, given that the investment is amortized and the amortization is registered as part of operating expenses, the users of the investments would immediately benefit from it, and also pay it at the same time (Penner, 2008).

Another means to deal with the…

References

Penner, R.G., June 10, 2008, Budgeting for Capital Investment, Statement before the House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

Rueben, K., McGuire, T., Kellam, S., October 2007, Navigating State and Local Finances, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

Rueben, K., Rosenberg, C., April 28, 2008, State and Local Tax Policy: What are rainy day funds and how do they work? Tax Policy Center

Woolley, J., Peters, G., 1999, Richard Nixon, the American Presidency Project,  http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=3636last  accessed on November 14, 2008

Programs and Services

§ Briefly describe the major programs and services, and the population intended to be served.

Before choosing the programs it is pointed out that about three decades ago, the term 'organizational culture', came in vogue. It resulted in a study of the different styles of organizing. Today the organizational change can be achieved easily and the methods of conducting programs themselves can be a part of a project that involves multiple organizations. Non-profits also came into the scrutiny of these concepts. (Wright, 1994)

The theory now is to see that maximum benefits and opportunities are extended to the subjects by the organization in this case the disadvantaged groups, particularly women and children. The programs seem to be created and managed on the general principles that all organizations follow. There does not seem to be any specific study that was done to incorporate the persons who belong to…

References

Alternativestodv. (2013a) "Administrative Staff" Retrieved 22 April, 2013 from  http://www.alternativestodv.org/aboutus/staff.html 

Alternativestodv. (2013d) "History of the organization" Retrieved 22 April, 2013 from  http://www.alternativestodv.org/aboutus/advhistory.html 

Alternativestodv. (2013c) "Financial Information" Retrieved 22 April, 2013 from  http://www.alternativestodv.org/aboutus/financials.html 

Alternativestodv. (2013b) "ADV Federal 990 form" Retrieved 22 April, 2013 from  http://www.alternativestodv.org/images/ADV_Federal_990_Form.pdf

S. It too had run into a deep recession and too sought ways out of it by considering tax options. In a similar way, both candidates running for the South Korean presidency in the 2012 presidential elections vowed to "to prioritise "national reconciliation," better "economic democracy" and social welfare" (BBC News (17 December 2012) South Korea's presidential candidates) and to do this via easing South Korea's income gap between rich and poor by adjusting tax burden appropriately. No wonder, that U.S. President Barack Obama congratulated her and stated that he "is looking forward to working closely with her administration on issues of mutual concern" (ibid). The two nations currently have a lot in common and Ms. Park seems to be treading the path that Obama has in mind.

Conclusion

Our recent recession goes by various names. It is called, in turn, the Great ecession, the Lesser Depression, the Long ecession,…

References

Condon, S. (December 19, 2012) the middle-class tax hikes in Obama's "fiscal cliff" plan. CBS News.

Grosz, D. (Dec 19, 2012) Rich Make Out Like Bandits in Fiscal-Cliff Negotiations. The Daily Beast

 http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/19/rich-make-out-like-bandits-in-fiscal-cliff-negotiations.html 

 http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57559974/the-middle-class-tax-hikes-in-obamas-fiscal-cliff-plan/

Macroeconomic Situation in the U.S.: Corrective Fiscal and Monetary Policy

December 2007 marked the onset of the Great recession, which ended in mid-2009 but left the U.S. economy struggling through the damage wrought by its severity. Federal policy has gone a long way in the prevention of an occurrence of another recession, but growth remains too sluggish and inadequate for the full-health restoration of the economy. Vigorous and sustained fiscal and monetary support is needed if the economy is to recover and achieve the pre-depression employment level.

Save for the temporary hiring of census officials, the overall economy recorded a drastic fall in employment levels during the last half of 2009. In December 2012, the unemployment rate was reported at 8.1% - approximately 3.5 percentage points above the average rate in 2007, at the end of which the Great ecession struck (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014). This rate further exceeds…

References

Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2014). Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey. Bureau of Labor Force Statistics. Retrieved from  http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14 

Council for Economic Education. (2013). Fiscal and Monetary Policy Process. Council for Economic Education. Retrieved from  http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.php?lid=352&type=student 

Greenlaw, G., Hamilton, J. Hooper, P. & Mishkin, F. (2013). Crunch Time: Fiscal Crises and the Role of Monetary Policy (No w19297). National Bureau of Economic Research.

US Inflation. (2013). U.S. Inflation Rate. U.S. Inflation. Retrieved from  http://usinflation.org/us-inflation-rate/

Turkey Economy

Turkey -- Fiscal and Monetary Policy

Fiscal policy refers to how a government adjusts its level of spending on various goods and services it provides to a population. Governments can spend money in a number of different ways that ultimately serve the public good. They can employee people to work on various projects. For example, the government can invest in things like health care, infrastructure, or education. Investments in such project can have a significant impact the country's economy. hen the government spends money there is a multiplier effect that injects money into the economy. For example, when the government pays an employee then that employee has money to spend on housing, food, entertainment, and other items which helps to stimulate the economy on an aggregate level.

Monetary policy is an entirely different type of policy tool than fiscal policy. This policy is determined by a federal bank…

Works Cited

Bureau, P. (2012, November 3). PESTLE Analysis of Turkey. Retrieved from Market Analysis: http://market-analyis.blogspot.com/2012/11/pestle-analysis-of-turkey.html

Business Insider. (2011, March 9). Turkey: A Model of Middle East Stability. Retrieved from Business Insider:  http://www.businessinsider.com/turkey-a-model-of-middle-east-stability-2011-3 

Cademir, Y., & Peker, E. (2013, January 22). Turkey's Central Bank Keeps Easing Monetary Policy. Retrieved from The Wall Street Journal:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324624404578257711555813602.html 

Reuters. (2013, July 8). Turkey's Central Bank kicks off monetary tightening, dollar down from all-time high. Retrieved from Hurriyet Daily News.

Economic Crisis Policies

US current economic crisis is considered to be started from real estate sector. The real sector started to decline in 2006 and it accelerated in 2007 and 2008. Housing prices have fallen from the peak from about 25% so far. The decline in prices left homeowners with no option and they were unable to refinance their mortgages and causes default of mortgages. This default of mortgages and loans swallowed the banks and financial markets such as falling of Lehman's brothers and other anks and blow to rest of economy happened as the whole economy was relying on banks and ultimately it slows down investment in the country and capital flows to other parts of the world like China and India. ank losses cause reduction of bank capital which in turn requires capital reduction thus saving bank from lending. It is estimated that every $100 loss and reduction…

Bibliography

ISR international socialist review. (2009, april). Retrieved from The U.S. economic crisis:causes and solutions:  http://www.isreview.org/issues/64/feat-moseley.shtml 

Journal of accountancy. (2009, october). Retrieved from The U.S. economic crisis: root causes and road to recovery: www.journalofaccountancy.com/Issues/2009/Oct/20091781

Eyes on wall street. (2011, april). Retrieved from Levin coburn investigates casues of financial crisis:  http://www.eyesonwallstreet.com/2011/04/articles/financial-crisis/levincoburn-report-investigates-causes-of-the-financial-crisis/ 

Rude, C. (2009). World Economic Crisis and Fed Reserve Response to it. Studies in Political Economy.

With a lower interest rate, that incentive no longer exists and this is usually an instrument by which private entities can be driven out of saving and into investing into new business on the market. Obviously, such an action usually creates the appropriate momentum for economic development, creating jobs, increasing governmental revenues through revenues from taxation and helping the country out of the economic recession.

In terms of fiscal policies, the measures that the government needs to take will all attempt to move the IS curve further to the right and, in this sense, to stimulate the national economy, reduce the period that the country will pass through the recession and determine a national economic growth. There are two important means by which this can be done: increased governmental spending and decreased taxes, with a less restrictive taxation policy. As we can see on the IS - LM graph, both…

orks Cited

Thorndike, Joseph J. "The IRS Is Hiding Its History." The ashington Times.

December 19, 1997, p. A23. February 18, 2008. http://www.taxhistory.org/thp/readings.nsf/cf7c9c870b600b9585256df80075b9dd/9de7fcd59915a3be85256e430079327d?OpenDocument

Question

After 9/11, the Federal Reserve Bank, then led by Alan Greenspan, used monetary policy reduced the interest rate, or the rate that consumers must pay to borrow money. This did encourage individuals to spend more. However, it is still debatable if this was the most vital component in extricating America from the throws of economic recession. Government spending, or fiscal as opposed to monetary policy, is often seen as a more direct and superior way to rapidly change economic conditions. Fiscal policy was required to stimulate America's recovery from the Great Depression, according to conventional wisdom, although some still argue that it was the Hoover administration's monetary policy that was ineffective, not that monetary policy was ineffective altogether.

But most economists believe that, to get the…

Works Cited

Heakal, Reem. "What is fiscal policy?" Investopedia. October 22, 2008.  http://www.investopedia.com/articles/04/051904.asp 

Question

Fairness does matter when creating a tax system. In terms of a consumption tax, the poor often consume more than the rich, at least in terms of a percentage of their income. While for a wealthy individual, much of his income can be locked up in assets, making money off of money, for a poor individual, the bulk of his or her income is devoted to buying necessary goods, including rent and food. The consumption tax taxes everyone equally on the surface, regardless of how someone has benefited from the economic system of a particular society, and actually favors those who can allocate their income to sectors of the economy that are not taxed (such as investments, which are not technically consumption).

A flat tax, where everyone pays the same amount, has similar problems in terms of allocating wealth. 15% of a poor person's income, a person who must pay for his or her rent, food, and necessities out of his or her weekly paycheck, means more to that individual than 15% of an income where much of that income can be devoted to investments and luxuries. While not as unfair as a consumption tax as investment income is also taxed, a flat tax is still unfair, and finding the right percentage to finance government operations yet not to be prohibitively costly for the poorest members of society is a difficult balance to strike. The only good thing about the flat tax is its simplicity, as along with the consumption tax as it requires less bureaucracy to enforce. Bureaucracy is expensive as well as frustrating (as anyone who has ever had to fill out a tax form beyond the standard EZ-file well knows!).

Germany has established itself as a successful country with a growing and stable economy. In terms of its economic policies, since 2014 its score has fallen by .2 placing it into rank 5 within the international top ranks. Of its many efforts to stabilize the country, the most notable is increased regulation, meaning pension-system expansions and a minimum wage (). Along with economic policies favoring regulation, Germany has remained strong in terms of employment growth and export performance, allowing for low unemployment rates and rising wages. While Germany has improved and stabilized, the rising influx of refugees has put a damper on the country's ability to create new policies for the labor-market.

Regardless, there are many positives in Germany's economic policies that has boosted tax revenue. The boost also comes in terms of reduction of debt-to-GDP ratio even with rising debt. Germany has done an amazing job of successfully addressing…

If the Fed is more concerned with the core CPI, then rates are unlikely to be raised this year. An increase in rates would slow the economy down. However, if total CPI increases at a faster rate, this could force the Fed to raise rates slightly.

On the whole, however, the data does not support DESA's pessimism about the state of the American economy. The Federal Reserve is currently using expansionary monetary policy to keep the amount of money in the economy at a high level, to spur business investment and real estate markets. In addition, lower rates make it easier for consumers to re-adjust their balance sheets as well. hile the data about the U.S. economy is encouraging -- most key measures are trending up, with solid underlying support rather than as the result of short-term trends -- the U.S. economy is not growing so fast that contractionary monetary…

Works Cited:

Bureau of Economic Analysis. (2012). National income and product accounts. BEA.gov. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from  http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/gdpnewsrelease.htm 

Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2012). Employment situation summary. BLS.gov. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from  http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm 

Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2012). Consumer price index summary. BLS.gov. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from  http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm 

DESA. (2012). World economic situation and prospects monthly briefing. Development Policy and Analysis Division of the United Nations. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from  http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/wesp/wesp_mb.shtml

Trace Reasoning Monetary Policy Enhanced a Flexible Exchange System

The paper will attempt to analyze why monetary policy tend to be more effective under flexible exchange rate system and less effective under fixed exchange system. Flexible exchange rates occurs when the exchange rate is allowed to move freely based on the demand and supply and the vice versa is true. The main argument in this case is flexible exchange rate is important because it allows forces of demand and supply to play their role without government interventions in situations where the monetary system is running well

It is laudable to note that monetary policy is an effective tool for policy makers in stabilizing the economy and for many countries this is such an important tool than the fiscal policies. In a flexible rate system, as we have mentioned above, the exchange rate is determined directly by market forces, and it…

Works Cited

Ching-Chong Lai, Chau- Nan Chen, Flexible Exchange Rates, Tight Money Effects, and Macroeconomic Policy, Journal of Post Keynesian Economics Vol 7, No.1 1984, pp 128-133

Dallas S.Batten & Mack Ott, The Interrelationship of Monetary Policy under Floating Exchange, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking. Vol 17, No.1. 1985, pp103-110

Francisco R. Casa, 1997. Capital Mobility and Stabilization policy under flexible exchange rates; Revised Analysis.

Southern Economic Journal Vol 43, No.4. pp, 1-10

2004). The new Fed chairman would necessarily have to monitor inflationary pressures to prevent spikes in the cost of living. n this note the new Chairman would move from a policy of targeting core inflation which excludes the so called volatile food and energy prices, and focus on the headline rate which includes these components. Additionally the Consumer Price Index calculation would change to reduce the weight of housing in the index, "which makes up 41% of the typical consumer's budget" (Mankiw, G. 2004). More weight would be placed on those items which have steadily increased in price far above even the headline rate over the last decade: energy, food, health care, and education. These steps would help stabilize the dollar as a store of value for the consumer and investor.

The last selection criterion for the new chairman will be their belief in the purpose and efficacy of the…

On trade policy the administration strongly favors unfettered free trade between nations with reductions in tariffs, and the creation of compacts expanding access to global markets. "For more than two centuries economists have steadfastly promoted free trade among nations as the best trade policy" (Blinder, a.N.D.). The new administration will push for the immediate fast tracking of any trade pacts still on hold in Congress. Additionally the goal of establishing free trade alliances similar to NAFTA with all of the EU and Asia will be a strong priority.

On regulatory policy the Chair of the Council will need to embrace a policy of sound, logical, but limited regulation on business. The regulatory policy must be designed to ensure that consumers are protected however not impinge on the spirit of American entrepreneurship, risk taking, and profit maximization. Succinctly the administration "seeks more affordable, less intrusive means to achieve the same ends -- giving careful consideration to benefits and costs" (Obama, B. January 18, 2011).

The fourth piece of the economic policy puzzle is the administration's defense of a strong dollar policy. A weak and falling dollar robs the consumer

Federal Reserve Policies 2000-

The first decade of the 21st century saw the U.S. economy on a peripatetic through tumultuous events, euphoric highs, and abysmal lows. The ten-year window highlighted three periods: 2000-2004, 2004-2007, and 2007-2010 in which the Federal Reserve actively utilized their policy levers to achieve their dual policy mandate of full employment and low inflation. The Fed's policy bag includes: the Fed funds rate, open market operations, discount rate, reserve requirements, and margin rates all of which were utilized during these three periods to achieve the ostensible goals of Fed policy. t is worth noting that in each of the three periods the Fed responded to economic conditions which they perceived to be harbingers of either inflationary pressures or anemic GDP and employment growth.

2000-2004

On March 10, 2000 the NASDAQ composite, a stock index representative of high flying dot-com companies, peaked at 5048 (Zarroli, J. March…

It is far too easy to be a Monday morning quarterback in regards to Fed policy and its role in igniting the financial crisis of 2008-2010, yet economists and pundits nevertheless look to the Fed as an easy target for the deleterious recession. One of the expected effects of monetary easing through open market operations of bond purchases, low Fed funds rates, and low discount rates is that credit in the banking system has a mellifluous flow which allows for greater lending to business and consumers. It is not surprising then that mortgage lending boomed in the years 2000-2004 with Fed funds rate declining throughout the period and mortgage rates at multi-decade lows. What is surprising however is the extent to which housing values skyrocketed from 2000-2007?

"From 2000 through 2006, national home prices rose by 88.7%, far more than the 17.5% gain in the consumer price index or the paltry 1% rise in median household income" (Siegel, J. October 27, 2009).

While low rates certainly did contribute to the boom in housing, the greater cause of the home price bubble growth and implosion which the country is still feeling the effects of, was Freddie, Fannie, low underwriting standards, NINJA products, and no down payments. The housing bubble burst in 2007 some three years after the Fed started raising the Fed funds rate; as such the logic of economists such as John Taylor is confusing at

Monetary Policies

A meeting between heads of state: President Obama of the United States and Naoto Kan of Japan has just concluded. he focus of the discussion was the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen. he president and prime minister along with the respective central bank heads agree that the current market exchange rate of 120 Yen to the dollar is too high, and as a result the respective governments will take steps to drive the value of the yen lower concomitant with an increase in the value of the dollar. o achieve this end government and central bank directives manifest themselves in several policy options.

Exchange Rates

Many policy advisors and officials contend that currency manipulation has no significant impact on exchange rates because annual official foreign exchange purchases of 40 billion to 70 billion per year by countries such as Japan and China pale…

The second method of moving the exchange rate between the yen and dollar is the one-way purchases of the dollar via the U.S. And Japanese central banks (See Appendix I- Direct Currency Purchases). An increase in the demand for the dollar will cause its value to rise relative to the yen; likewise the sale of yen in the open market will lead to a devaluation of the yen in relation to the dollar. It is important to remember that the context for these policy actions is to allow the Japanese yen to depreciate, which will have the effect of making their exports less expensive to foreigners and as such exports will increase. Second a devalued yen relative to the dollar will be an inflationary pressure on the Japanese economy which has suffered from extensive deflation over the past two decades.

Economic Stabilization Policies

Stabilization policies implemented either through monetary or fiscal policy are designed to smooth out the vicissitudes of the economic cycle by stabilizing the aggregate demand function. Economic stabilization has been an explicit goal of U.S. policy since the Employment Act of 1946. This act states that "it is the continuing policy and responsibility of the federal government to . . . promote full employment and production" (Mankiw, G. 2004). The Federal Reserve can use monetary policy to stabilize aggregate demand, while Congress can use fiscal policy in the form of government spending to achieve a similar function.

Keynes's policy ideas so difficult to accept in the 1930s?

This is a paper that analyzes the above questions and answers it by identifying the factors that were responsible for the rejection of Keynes ideas during the 1930s. It has 12 sources.

It is quite usual that people do not readily accept changes in their lives easily. A change in routine and economic patterns would certainly disrupt people's lives, which they would certainly not great warmly. This is because of the fact that it would mean readjusting themselves to almost everything that they do.

A change in economic relationships too would mean that virtually everything in society would change. This is because of the fact that nearly everything in society is economic based (Begg, 2000).

When there were problems visible in society, Keynes formulated economic policies that he believed would solve economic crises if a country adopted them. However, this…

Sources:

Nymeyer, Frederick. Progressive Calvinism: Traditional Capitalism's Policy Just The Reverse Of Keynes's. 1958. At http://www.visi.com/~contra_m/pc/1958/4-2traditional.html

Chick, Victoria. Macroeconomics After Keynes: A Reconsideration of the General Theory. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1983, pp. x, 374

Winch, Donald. Economics & Policy, (Fontana, 1969) Chs. 8 and 11.

Routh, Guy. The Origin of Economic Ideas, Chapter 6.

Japan was once on a stellar track to economic prosperity. The end of the twentieth century saw promising chances for the island nation's economy. In 1991, the government spending was one of the lowest the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED) and 31.6% of the nation's GDP (Utt 2008). That same year, Japan's national income was at 86% of the U.S. gross national per capita income, a big improvement from just 20 years ago when the nation was only making 66% of the U.S. per capita income. This was an impressive feat for the nation to embark on. Yet, this was to change in the following years dramatically. During the later decade of the 1990s, the Japanese government took on the practice of vastly increasing government spending as a way to stimulate an economy that was beginning to lag. As the growth of the economy began to go stale,…

References

Associated Press. 2009, 'North Korea 'Panic' After Surprise Currency Revaluation,' Guardian [Online] Available at  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/03/north-korea-won-currency-revaluation 

Bozyk, Pawel. 2006. Globalization and the Transformation of Foreign Economic Policy, Ashgate Publishing Ltd.

Chait, Jonathon. 2010, 'The Budget-Cutting Cycle: Delusion, Failure, Recimination,' the New Republic, [Online] Available at  http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-chait/78735/the-budget-cutting-cycle-delusion-failure-recrimination 

Eberstadt, Nick. 2007, the North Korean Economy: Between Crisis and Catastrophe, Transaction Publishers.

4. Of the criticisms, some are valid and some are not. Clearly, nobody who has looked at the evidence will think that unconventional monetary policy is inflationary. Inflation is low, and interest rates are rock bottom. Under normal conditions, this policy would be inflationary, but it is likely only going to be used in crisis times, when the normal predicative conditions do not hold. However, expansion of the Fed's balance sheet is risky. Certainly, if it needs to shrink its balance sheet this could prove contractionary -- timing of such moves needs to be spot on. The last complaint -- that unconventional monetary policy is not particularly effective -- is a legitimate criticism. Despite the massive efforts we have seen in the past several years, economic growth in the U.S. remains muted and unemployment stubbornly high. If a central bank is going to take these sorts of risks, it should…

Poverty and Public Policy

Charles Blow discusses in hits NYT op-ed column the issue of child poverty. He notes up front that his belief is that poverty can never really be ended, highlighting that the man has a realistic outlook on the issue. There are many different causes of poverty, not the least of which is that poverty is, ultimately, relative. What we call poverty today in America would be considered wealthy in half the other countries in the world. His point, however, is that even if you accept that there will always be some poverty, there is a societal obligation to keep the poverty rate as low as possible. He argues in particular against children living in poverty.

This is where public policy comes into play. The United States, simply put, performs poorly on the issues of overall poverty and child poverty, and that is the direct result of…

References

Blow, C. (2015). Reducing our obscene level of child poverty. New York Times. Retrieved March 22, 2015 from  http://www.nytimes.com /2015/01/28/opinion/charles-blow-reducing-our-obscene-level-of-child-poverty.html

Borjas, G. (2011). Poverty and program participation among immigrant children. The Future of Children. Vol. 21 (1) 247-266.

Hall, D. & Cooper. D. (2012). How raising the federal minimum wage would help working families and give the economy a boost. Economic Policy Institute. Retrieved March 22, 2015 from http://www.jobsnowcoalition.org/reports/2012/federal-minimum-wage-9-80-boost_epi2012-08.pdf

policy problem for which a proposed solution will be developed. The policy problem is the difficulty that single mothers face when they attempt to re-enter the job market, but have no funds to use to negotiate the pre-employment maze of requirements, meetings, and other demands on their time and resources -- all of which occur well before the women receive their first paycheck. One of the primary problems that these single mothers must solve is how to provide safe and adequate child care so that they can focus on the immediate pre-employment demands.

Identify the recipient of the report. The epresentative of the voter district and state of [name the state you live in] is the target audience for this report. The proposal covered by this report functions to created awareness of a socio-economic problem for which there is a reasonable solution. Further the report requests a meeting with the…

References

CoAbode. (2007). [Website] Retrieved  http://coabode.com/ 

Financial assistance info for single-parent/low-income families. [Website] Project Working Mom. Retrieved  http://www.elearners.com/projectworkingmom/resources/pay-for-college/financial-assistance-for-single-parent-low-income-families/ 

Making work supports work. (2010). National Center for Children in Poverty. Retrieved  http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_560.html

fiscal federalism on finance and budgeting in public organizations.

Federalism is a political concept in which groups are bound together by a representative governing body. This is usually constitutionally divided between a central authority and political units; in the United States, the Federal Government and the 50 State Governments. The issue of federalism was actual controversial during America's revolutionary period when some feared that too much power at the Federal level would reduce State's rights. Certainly, after the Civil War the Federal Government increased its influence and power, particularly as transportation technology allowed for greater commerce and travel between States (Gerston, 2007). In its most basic form and application, fiscal federalism is a concept that is concerned with deciding which functions of government are best centralized and which are more appropriately placed in decentralized levels of government. As a study, it looks at how the expenditure side and revenue side…

However, we now see some issues that are even more serious in States: California cancelled many of its summer educational programs and has a tremendous fiscal crisis; Washington has a budget deficit that has extended into education; and Medicaid spending has caused a fiscal crisis in Texas, New Jersey, and New York (State Budget Crisis Task Force, 2012). Additionally, it now appears that transferring of regulatory and fiscal authority to States sometimes causes better incentives to follow Federal policy, but all too often allows states to undercut economic policy and even adapt programs with a poorer design and execution than intended, often causing those programs to underperform (Super, 2005).

Health care is certainly a prime example of the disconnect between Federal and State governments. States and localities deliver, finance, administer and even monitor health systems. Any serious reform, though, must begin at the Federal level with Medicaid, which is hurting state budgets. In fact, most States lack the administrative tools and expertise to manage health care budgets at all, evidences by the tripling of State and local expenditures since 1980 (Pollack and Kilgore, 2009).

The problem is not just in the United States, but between Canada and her Provinces as well. The gist, for both countries, is about effectiveness of the various levels of government. To adequately fund programs that must, by their nature, be national in scope, the Federal government has the responsibility to its citizens at large. This can be accomplished by shifting spending to tax relief that stimulates business investment in all States, build more discipline into Federal programs that

Maryland Prison System

Crime is expensive. But so too is punishment. The state of Maryland, like the majority of states across the nation at the moment, is facing a period of slow economic growth and shrinking economic resources even as it continues to have to meet the needs of its citizens. This paper examines the effect on the state's overall budget of the cost of incarcerating prisoners.

The treatment of prisoners causes few legal problems for the government of a dictatorship. A government that refuses to acknowledge the human rights of even its law-abiding citizens is not likely to show too many qualms about shoving its criminals into overcrowded and unsafe prisons - or even to worry about whether the niceties of due process were considered in getting the person to prison to begin with. But the rule of constitutional law changes all that. Because we live in a country…

References

Feely, M. And Edward, R. (1998). Judicial policy making and the modern state: How courts reformed. Cambridge: Cambridge University.

Hafetz, J. (1995). Tough justice. New York Empire State Report. http://216.239.57.104/search?q=cache:5haT4coRUqgJ:www.mdgreens.org/montgomery/pdf/schoolsnotprisons.pdf+maryland+state+budget+prison&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

 http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/cases/prisons/Estelle_v_Gamble.htm 

 http://www.caps.ucsf.edu/inmaterev.html

Fiscal Federalism

To the Cato Institute:

The Cato Institute policy statement on "Fiscal Federalism" is an excellent example of 'throwing the baby out with the bath water.' Yes, there may be unnecessary government bureaucracy involved in the awarding of federal grants to states. But the need for more efficiency does not mean that the entire program should be scrapped. During the recent 2008 recession, many states were cash-strapped and desperately needed funds to support Medicaid and unemployment insurance. Unlike states, the federal government can spend at a deficit. If there were no grants, this would have caused tremendous privation and social unrest.

The relationship of the states and the federal government is necessarily a symbiotic one. States are presumed to have better knowledge of what programs are needed to address critical issues within states' borders. The federal government acknowledges this expertise, even though it may use its prerogative to prioritize…

References

Williams, Bob. (2012). The most egregious budget gimmicks of 2012. State Budget Solutions.

Retrieved:  http://www.statebudgetsolutions.org/publications/detail/the-most-egregious-budget-gimmicks-of-2012#ixzz2SSj3gmMC

Policy

The state response to Ebola should be a coordinated communications effort. This will serve a number of purposes. First, it will maintain fiscal discipline. Second, communication is key to maintaining public order should there be an outbreak of Ebola. Third, communication helps to reduce the risk of an outbreak, because all members of our community will know how to avoid spreading Ebola.

The recent revelations that the World Health Organization and others botched their response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has done little to calm the public here at home regarding this disease. A government that deals in evidence and has a realistic world view does not need to address irrational panic, but the fact that global and national-level bodies seem challenged to come up with a plan to deal with Ebola places the onus on the state to devise such solutions. Already, some states, such as…

References

AP. (2014). Canadian nurses: Updated ebola guidelines don't protect healthcare staff. Global News. Retrieved October 22, 2014 from  http://globalnews.ca/news/1623732/canada-releases-updated-ebola-guidelines-amid-calls-for-international-aid/ 

CBS. (2014). Christie announce MJ ebola team. CBS New York. Retrieved October 22, 2014 from  http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/10/22/christie-to-hold-nj-response-readiness-briefing-on-ebola/ 

Dixon, R. (2014). Eight reported dead in attack on Ebola workers in Guinea. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 22, 2014 from  http://www.latimes.com/world/africa/la-fg-attack-ebola-guinea-outreach-20140918-story.html#

Policy ecommendation in Combating Terrorism

Policy Project Part 1: Project outline

In the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. government and the international community reviewed typologies for the financing of transnational terrorism and examined ways to combat such financing. Unfortunately, evidence indicates that al Qaeda and other terrorist groups apparently affiliated with or inspired by al Qaeda have worked quite economically, using low-budget methods to operate. After reviewing two typologies, this part of the paper discusses applicable legal mechanisms for preventing and prosecuting the financing of transnational terrorist networks and considers proposals for improving the effectiveness of efforts to combat foreign-affinity terrorist financing (euter & Truman, 2004; Carter, 2008).

Typologies

The evolving effects of globalization and the transnational nature of terrorism have combined to create almost limitless possibilities for terrorists looking to finance operations (Sheppard, 2008). One problem with combating terrorist financing is that many forms of…

References

Alexander, Yonah, and Donald J. Musch, eds. (2012). Terrorism, Documents of International and Local Control. Vol. 35. Dobbs Ferry, New York: Oceana.

Andreas, Peter, and Ethan Nadelmann. (2013). Policing the Globe: Criminalization and Crime Control in International Relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Carter, Barry E. (2008) International Economic Sanctions: Improving the Haphazard U.S. Legal Regime. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Cesari, Jocelyne. (2009) Muslims in the West after 9/11. New York: Routledge.

Current Policy

The Obama Administration had pledged to end veteran homelessness, an interesting pledge given the myriad of complex reasons why people become homeless. But they were able to make progress towards that objective. The White House announced in 2016 that it had be able to cut veteran homelessness by 47% as of 2016 (Zoroya, 2016). The number living on the street was reduced 56% during the 2010-2016 time period. This was the result of a number of different approaches, which highlight the way that policy is addressed in this area.

The project to end veteran homelessness was the result of a coordinated effort by two departments, the Bureau of Veteran Affairs (VA) and Housing & Urban Development. The VA cites three components of its plan: conducting outreach to seek out veterans in need; connecting homeless and at-risk veterans with housing solutions; and collaborating with various government agencies, employers, housing…