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Deficit Hawk
Deficit hawk is a political slang term in the English speaking world for people who place great emphasis on keeping government budgets under control. 'Hawk' can be used to describe someone calling for harsh or pain-inducing measures (alluding to the predatory nature of hawks in the natural world) in many political contexts; in the specific context of deficit reduction, the term is more commonly applied to those advocating for cuts in government spending than to those supporting increases in taxes. Economist and opinion writer Paul Krugman has popularized the use of "deficit scold" in place of deficit hawk. According to Krugman, a columnist of ''The New York Times'', "the Peter G. Peterson Foundation is deficit-scold central; Peterson funding lies behind much of the movement." Deficit hawks often warn that unsustainable fiscal policies could lead to investors losing confidence in U.S. government bonds, which would in turn force an increase in interest rates. Krugman has dismissed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slang
Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-groups in order to establish group identity, exclude outsiders, or both. The word itself came about in the 18th century and has been defined in multiple ways since its conception. Etymology of the word ''slang'' In its earliest attested use (1756), the word ''slang'' referred to the vocabulary of "low" or "disreputable" people. By the early nineteenth century, it was no longer exclusively associated with disreputable people, but continued to be applied to usages below the level of standard educated speech. In Scots dialect it meant "talk, chat, gossip", as used by Aberdeen poet William Scott in 1832: "The slang gaed on aboot their war'ly care." In northern English dialect it meant "impertinence, abusive language". The origin of the word i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dean Baker
Dean Baker (born July 13, 1958) is an American macroeconomist who co-founded the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) with Mark Weisbrot. Baker has been credited as one of the first economists to have identified the 2007–08 United States housing bubble. Early life and education Baker grew up in the Lake View neighborhood of Chicago. In 1981, Baker graduated from Swarthmore College with a bachelor's degree in history with minors in economics and philosophy. In 1983, he received a master's degree in economics from the University of Denver. In 1988, he received a PhD from the University of Michigan in economics. Career Baker was a lecturer at the University of Michigan from 1988 to 1989 and an assistant professor of economics at Bucknell University from 1989 to 1992. From 1992 to 1998, he was an economist at the Economic Policy Institute. During this time, he published a paper with Mark Weisbrot in a journal of evolutionary economics. In 1999, Baker and Weisbrot c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Federal Budget
The United States budget comprises the spending and revenues of the U.S. federal government. The budget is the financial representation of the priorities of the government, reflecting historical debates and competing economic philosophies. The government primarily spends on healthcare, retirement, and defense programs. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office provides extensive analysis of the budget and its economic effects. It has reported that large budget deficits over the next 30 years are projected to drive federal debt held by the public to unprecedented levels—from 98 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 to 195 percent by 2050. Overview The budget document often begins with the President's proposal to Congress recommending funding levels for the next fiscal year, beginning October 1 and ending on September 30 of the year following. The fiscal year refers to the year in which it ends. However, Congress is the body required by law to pass appropriati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PAYGO
PAYGO (Pay As You GO) is the practice in the United States of financing expenditures with funds that are currently available rather than borrowed. Budgeting The PAYGO compels new spending or tax changes not to add to the federal debt. Not to be confused with pay-as-you-go financing, which is when a government saves up money to fund a specific project. Under the PAYGO rules, a new proposal must either be "budget neutral" or offset with savings derived from existing funds. The goal of this is to require those in control of the budget to engage in the diligence of prioritizing expenses and exercising fiscal restraint. An important example of such a system is the use of PAYGO in both the statutes of the U.S. Government and the rules in the U.S. Congress. First enacted as part of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 (which was incorporated as Title XIII of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990), PAYGO required all increases in direct spending or revenue decreases to be offset b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiscal Policy
In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government revenue collection ( taxes or tax cuts) and expenditure to influence a country's economy. The use of government revenue expenditures to influence macroeconomic variables developed in reaction to the Great Depression of the 1930s, when the previous laissez-faire approach to economic management became unworkable. Fiscal policy is based on the theories of the British economist John Maynard Keynes, whose Keynesian economics theorised that government changes in the levels of taxation and government spending influence aggregate demand and the level of economic activity. Fiscal and monetary policy are the key strategies used by a country's government and central bank to advance its economic objectives. The combination of these policies enables these authorities to target inflation (which is considered "healthy" at the level in the range 2%–3%) and to increase employment. Additionally, it is designed to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiscal Council
A fiscal council is an independent body set up by a government to evaluate its expenditure and tax policy. Typically, councils are staffed by economists and statisticians who do not have the ability to set policy, but provide advice to governments and the public on the economic effects of government budgets and policy proposals. Some fiscal councils also provide economic forecasting. Fiscal councils evaluate government's fiscal policies, plans and performance publicly and independently, against macroeconomic objectives related to the long-term sustainability of public finances, short-to-medium-term macroeconomic stability, and other official objectives. History Several fiscal councils arose following the financial crisis of 2007–08 with the intention of avoiding debt crises and alleviating the problem of deficit bias, which is a tendency of governments to allow increasing long-term deficits. Analysis from the International Monetary Fund proposes that deficit bias results from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiscal Conservatism
Fiscal conservatism is a political and economic philosophy regarding fiscal policy and fiscal responsibility with an ideological basis in capitalism, individualism, limited government, and ''laissez-faire'' economics.M. O. Dickerson et al., ''An Introduction to Government and Politics: A Conceptual Approach'' (2009) p. 129. Fiscal conservatives advocate tax cuts, reduced government spending, free markets, deregulation, privatization, free trade, and minimal government debt. Fiscal conservatism follows the same philosophical outlook of classical liberalism. This concept is derived from economic liberalism and can also be referred to as fiscal liberalism outside the United States. The term has its origins in the era of the American New Deal during the 1930s as a result of the policies initiated by modern liberals, when many classical liberals started calling themselves conservatives as they did not wish to be identified with what was passing for liberalism in the United St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Citizens Against Government Waste
Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization in the United States. It functions as a "government watchdog" and advocacy group for fiscally conservative causes. The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) is the lobbying arm of CAGW, organized as a section 501(c)(4) organization and therefore is permitted to engage in direct lobbying activities. According to its web site, "CAGW is a private, non-partisan, non-profit organization representing more than one million members and supporters nationwide. CAGW's stated mission is to eliminate waste, mismanagement, and inefficiency in the federal government." History Located in Washington, DC, CAGW was founded in 1984 by industrialist J. Peter Grace and syndicated columnist Jack Anderson. Peter Grace was chairman of President Ronald Reagan's Grace Commission, or President's Private Sector Survey on Cost Control. Thomas A. Schatz has been president since 1992. Publications CAGW produce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balance Of Payments
In international economics, the balance of payments (also known as balance of international payments and abbreviated BOP or BoP) of a country is the difference between all money flowing into the country in a particular period of time (e.g., a quarter or a year) and the outflow of money to the rest of the world. These financial transactions are made by individuals, firms and government bodies to compare receipts and payments arising out of trade of goods and services. The balance of payments consists of two components: the current account and the capital account. The current account reflects a country's net income, while the capital account reflects the net change in ownership of national assets. History Until the early 19th century, international trade was heavily regulated and accounted for a relatively small portion compared with national output. In the Middle Ages, European trade was typically regulated at municipal level in the interests of security for local industry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balanced Budget Amendment
A balanced budget amendment is a constitutional rule requiring that a state cannot spend more than its income. It requires a balance between the projected receipts and expenditures of the government. Balanced-budget provisions have been added to the constitutions of Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland, among others, as well as to the constitutions of most U.S. states. In the United States, the Republican Party has advocated for the introduction of a balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitution. Balanced budget amendments are defended with arguments that they reduce deficit spending and constrain politicians in making irresponsible short-term spending decisions when they are in office. Research shows that balanced budget amendments lead to greater fiscal discipline. However, there is substantial agreement among economists that ''strict annual'' balanced budget amendments have harmful near-term economic effects. In times of r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balanced Budget
A balanced budget (particularly that of a government) is a budget in which revenues are equal to expenditures. Thus, neither a budget deficit nor a budget surplus exists (the accounts "balance"). More generally, it is a budget that has no budget deficit, but could possibly have a budget surplus. A ''cyclically'' balanced budget is a budget that is not necessarily balanced year-to-year, but is balanced over the economic cycle, running a surplus in boom years and running a deficit in lean years, with these offsetting over time. Balanced budgets and the associated topic of budget deficits are a contentious point within academic economics and within politics. Some economists argue that moving from a budget deficit to a balanced budget decreases interest rates, increases investment, shrinks trade deficits and helps the economy grow faster in the longer term. Other economists, especially those associated with Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), downplay the need for balanced budgets among c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
