Chapter 8

1. Explain how taxation, government expenditures, management of the national debt, and tax expenditures (tax breaks) can be used by national, state, and local governments as tools of fiscal policy.

2. Describe the current budget process at the national level, as amended by GRH and the Budget Enforcement Acts, at each of the five steps of the budgetary cycle. Assess the process's apparent weaknesses and shortcomings, and the prospects for eventually achieving a balanced budget.

3. What factors (general and specific, short- and long-term) explain the rise and fall in expenditures in the national government budget over the past thirty years?

4. The cumulative debt for the U.S. government in 2009 was about three times its annual revenue. Even if budgets are balanced after FY 2012, that debt (and its interest) will still have to be paid. Is the amount of U.S. government spending a problem, and if so, how can it be dealt with?

5. Definethen compare and contrastincremental budget making, line-item budgeting, performance budgeting, PPB, and ZBB. What are the features, advantages, and disadvantages of each? Which do you think should be used today? Defend your answer.

6. Discuss the relationship between the national economy and national government fiscal activity. Include in your discussion the government's role as a distributor of scarce public resources.

7. Discuss the roles of the president and Congress in budget determination. When did the president get a role, and why was the president given executive budget authority?

8. Why is incremental budget making not used as often as it once was?

9. Explain the relationship among monetary and credit controls, budgeting, and "power politics."

10. What are the possible consequences for the national economy of increased annual deficits, cumulative debt, and threats to not raise the debt ceiling?