The New York Times recently challenged readers to fix the US government's $1,000,000,000,000 budget deficit. Currently, the government borrows $37 for every $100 it spends (this is an improvement). To balance the budget the government would have to cut many programs and would would have to increase taxes. Both of these options would most likely make the business cycle (recovery) worse. People spending less money (due to taxation) and more people lose their jobs (due to government cuts) increases unemployment (9.6% after 5 quarters of recovery). Try the NYT's challenge here.
To reduce the budget deficit there could be a tax put on only inelastic products so consumers would still buy the product because they need it and there should be very little reduce in purchases if any.
ReplyDeleteI think to reduce the deficit the government jobs should have a pay cut because that would save them money and for everyone, the government could make people pay a tax on water because everyone uses it so it would bring in revenue and it would make water more expensive so people wouldn't waste as much so it would be good for government and the enviornment.
ReplyDeleteI would cut military spending along with placing taxes on certain products. An excise tax would would best, only taxing certain products that would not affect the market. These products would be inelastic like cigarettes and gasoline. A a way a sin tax would be placed on lower priced goods like gum candy bars and soda. People would still buy them so the gov would make money.
ReplyDeleteI think the gov should stop spending so much money on products and things they don't need. The gov doesn't have to give schools so mich money. Schools just have to figure out a diff way to spend it. Yes all the new technology we have helps a lot, but we don't NEED it. Students learned in school before all this technology, and we could cut ours down a little bit too. Also place a tax on prices which are inelastic.
ReplyDeleteTo reduce the budget deficit, or to slow the growth, military spending should be reduced. Not the research programs, but the quantity of people who need to be trained. Also, there're some programs, like the No Child Left Behind Act, that didn't produce the benefit that it was originally thought to do. Since these only benefit a minority, they could be eliminated.
ReplyDeleteI think that the government should cut military spending and tax inelastic products more. Cutting spending and taking in more money would at least slow the deficit from growing as fast.
ReplyDeleteI think that in order to reduce the deficit they should definitely tax inelastic goods since we would have to buy them either way. If we tax elastic goods then people will spend less, kind of like the activity we did last week; Meaning the more expensive something was sold, the less buyers there were.
ReplyDeleteI would tax on inelastic goods such as water or electricity or even gas. No matter what the price will be, people will still have to pay for those products because they are very important and needed to society. By adding more taxes on inelastic goods, the government can make the taxes lower on the elastic products like pop or candy. People will still buy those products so the government will still be making money.
ReplyDeleteTo reduce the deficit I'm just going to keep spending the money I earn at work. By spending money it helps keep businesses thriving. But one person can't make a difference- we all have to contribute in some way or another
ReplyDeleteI think that the government should reduce department budgets, like the national defense spending on newer weapon systems. If the government was to increase taxes, it should increase taxes for inelastic goods, such as gasoline. We could let the debt inflate out, which will make it easier to pay off later on. There is already cyclical unemployment from the recession, but more cuts/taxes will cause structural unemployment. This will cause a greater unemployment. I think the budget issue should be handled after the recession.
ReplyDeletePlacing taxes on inelastic products would help but not enough. There needs to be regulation on medical malpractice because medical costs are so high from the amount of lawsuits on doctors and hospitals accused of "malpractice" just to get money. Also, things like the millionaire tax would help too. If youre that rich you're not going to lose that money any time soon so the rich wont stop spending or contributing to society but they are a guarantee as far as the tax goes.
ReplyDeleteI think that the government should reduce military spending. There's no need to spend the money we are on something we don't need to spend all of our money on. Also, we could tax on inelastic goods because that way, we will get a lot more money back to help us get out of debt. By spending less money on things we don't need, eventually, our economy can get back, or near where we were a few years back.
ReplyDeleteI think govt should encourage people to volunteer more of their time ,like for example at least once a month people who have jobs should work like an hour or so for free or volunteer in something else ( local library, church, etc.)
ReplyDeleteI think that if you tax the inelastic goods and products more that will definitely reduce the budget deficit. It will reduce it because people have to pay tax on inelastic goods and those are necessary.
ReplyDeleteWelfare programs need to be much more regulated and enforced. 3 years on unemployment is just ridiculous. I understand that the job market is difficult right now, but unemployment and especially welfare creates lazy, unproductive people who don't even bother to improve since they don't actually have to. Also, the minimum should be decreased. That will allow employers to hire more people and add more hours to workers.
ReplyDeleteI would cut all programs that give our dollars to other countries. I'm so sick and tired of hearing about this deficit and we need to start focusing on our economy and safety as a nation. We don't need to blow money on oil wars and "terrorism" in the MiddleEast and we need to stop helping other countries by sending them relief. Ideally it would be best if we didn't have to also borrow so much and so often.
ReplyDeleteIf the government spent less time worrying about other countries and more about our country it would save us a lot of time and money. Also if we increase taxes based on the amount of income being brought in for tax payers it would increase the revenue brought on. They can also lower taxes on elastic goods and increase the on inelastic goods so that consumers still have to pay for the goods they need but they can also purchase more elastic goods to keep the economy going.
ReplyDeleteIn order to reduce the national deficit, the government can put a tax on inelastic goods that also have spillover costs, therefore, they will increase the revenue because people will still buy the product, and it will also help society in another way by reducing negative externalities. Such products could be cigarettes and alcohol.
ReplyDeleteI think in order for the government to really start reducing the budget deficit, the economy needs to stabilize more and more people need to get back to work. They could try giving companies incentives to hire more people, however the cheaper way would be to stop intervening with big businesses like it has the past few years and let the market stabilize by itself.
ReplyDeletei think that the government needs to lower taxes so that people will buy more elastic goods. right now the tax is fairly high, so if it is lowered, the government may actually make more money from higher quantity demanded. the government however does not need to lower the tax on inelastic goods because people will buy these goods no matter what the price is.
ReplyDeletethe government also needs to carefully review its budget. what plans are costimg more than their benefit? do we really need to spend that much on the military? how important are flat screen tv's at school?
By placing a tax on inelastic goods, the government would make money that could go towards reducing out deficit. The goods that could be taxed would be gas, electricity or water. Something people will pay for regardless of price. This tax would have to be a reasonable tax though, not something that would cause problems with the public. Also, cutting military spending could be a small help to lowering our deficit
ReplyDeleteEven though we may not want to, we need to spend more money. We all must spend more money though in order to have a larger impact. Governmet should also increase the amount of jobs. Government should also tax inelastic goods like water and gasoline to increase revenue.
ReplyDeleteIf you tax inelastic goods, people will still buy them because they need them, however it will cause a lot of controversy. There should be certain items taxed higher than others, however how do we decided on those items? Inelastic items such as certain medications and products should remain the same, but other inelastic items that have the label of being "health hazards" such as cigarettes, alcohol, tanning, etc should be taxed higher because people will still buy them and they will benefit society as well as help reduce our debt
ReplyDeleteI think making government smaller and reducing government spending would be a great way to decrease our country's overspending and decrease the budget deficit. Maybe taxes should be raised a little in order to help out, but I think the main thing should be that government joule stop spending unnecessary amounts of money
ReplyDeleteI think to cut the budget deficit we should dramatically reduce military spending. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are highly unpopular, and reductions in national defense would show the American people the government has changed its habits. Focusing on home instead of abroad will improve our confidence in what our government prioritizes.
ReplyDeleteI think if we put a tax on inelastic goods only, this would be a good way to help because no matter what the price people will still need to buy them. If people were encouraged to spend more I think that would help also. We need to think about what we are spending the money on and reduce the costs to actually help anything like military spending, because it is unnecessary
ReplyDeleteOther than taxing inelastic goods more, I don't believe the government should change anything to lower the deficit because most things they do will lower the spending of the public. Increased spending would help so they should find a way to have people voluntarily increase their spending
ReplyDeletetax inelastic goods like gas, water, electricity, medical goods, and drugs. This may reduce spending in other market sectors, but will have the smallest overall impact on the market. We should not reduce government spending. Much of what we currently spend is needed to fund crucial programs like education, healthcare, and defense.
ReplyDeleteReduce military/defense spending, increase income taxes for rich. Get rid of bush tax cuts. Increase retirement, social security, and medicare ages to an age that is proportional to the original age based on the increase of life span.
ReplyDeleteCut government growth and military spending, increase efficiency in contract bidding and promote in country business to stop deficit increases and once the economy bounces back, raise taxes to pay the deficit back.
ReplyDeleteGet rid of the bush tax cuts. Increase taxes on the rich. Reduce offensive military spending. Reduce foreign energy dependencies. Tax inelastic goods. Increase ssc and Medicaid ages
ReplyDeleteThey should tax more for inelastic goods such as water and gas and lower the tax on elastic ones such as clothing. Also, they should stop spending as much money on military. If they decrease some taxes and increase others, they will receive a higher total profit and thus be able to fix the debt
ReplyDeleteI would reduce military spending in countries outside the us where there is really no conflict and we're just there as regulators, this would take out a huge chunk of our spending. And to further improve, you could tax inelastic goods like gas for example because no ones actually willing to go without gas if it's taxed, it's too essential to everyday life.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I would not do anything because I feel that the budget deficit is so big that I alone will not influence it. However, the government should cut programs for the poor, military spending, and should not look into public health care.
ReplyDeleteTo help solve the defect problem, more taxes joule be placed on unnecessary goods. For example, tanning, cigarettes, and expensive clothing. Also, companies causing major pollution could be taxed more.
ReplyDeleteIncome taxes need to be increased whether it is a popular decision or not. We have some of the lowest tax rates in the world among industrialized nations, and recently, one of the worst economies. Also, the government needs to cut unnessecary spending and focus on improving our own country, at least until we get back on our feet.. It is important to help those who need it in foreign countries, but some people in America need help as badly as they do.
ReplyDeleteAs for what the government could do, they should increase taxes on imported goods to promote the purchase of domestic products which would bring money back to the US. Increasing taxes on inelastic goods would simply prevent consumers from purchasing luxury goods, so they'd be spending about the same amount of money overall, and cutting government programs would put more people out of work, decreasing the spending consumers would do (the exact opposite of what we need).
ReplyDeleteAs an independent adult consumer, I'd be willing to focus my purchases on American goods as opposed to cheaper international substitutes.
To reduce the government deficit, I would place a sales tax on inelastic goods such as gasoline and cigarettes. I would also cut foreign aid, because the US will still be influential in the world even if we aren't giving them millions of dollars.
ReplyDeleteMake drugs legal and put a 200% tax on them, then after that start world war three to make war time weapons and materials that would bring our economy back up in a matter of weeks.
ReplyDeleteIn order to reduce the deficit, the government should offer subsidies to companies to increase production. They should also make more of an effort to fund small businesses in order to increase competition and improve the economy.
ReplyDeleteThe government should curb military expenses yet contract more private military companies, cut foreign aid, legalize select drugs and tax them, and also cut all health care.
ReplyDeletePut a tax on basic things (Ex. $.05 to use a public water fountain for a certain amount of time, $.25 to use a public restroom, etc.). Although these are small denominations of money, these things (along with multiple other things) are used often by the public and would eventually contribute to paying off our debt.
ReplyDeleteI would tax inelastic goods like toothpaste and toilet paper because everybody needs it. I would also be sure to lower the taxes on other essentials such as tanning, so more people would do it.
ReplyDeletePlace a tax on goods that are perfectly inelastic. For example water, if we tax, no matter what people still have to buy it
ReplyDeleteThe government should tax goods such as cigarettes because they are inelastic and consumers will buy them no matter the price. Then, both the consumers and the government is technically getting what they want.
ReplyDeleteThe government should reduce spending on unneccessary programs and projects. So much money goes to earmark or pork barrel projects. The Republicans in Congress want to eliminate this spending, and I think it is a good idea. Most of it is just wasteful, and we could drastically reduce spending by eliminating this type of spending.
ReplyDeletePlace very high taxes on inelastic goods but don't cut any programs to still have jobs and a good, healthy flow of money
ReplyDeleteFirst of all the government shouldn't waste money on healthcare also I don't think we need to pay for new roads as often also we shouldn't have to provide for the unemployed
ReplyDeleteDon't make taxes so high so that people have more money to spend. I still think some programs should be cut that aren't needed so that the tax payees money isn't wasted. Keith jones
ReplyDeleteThe governement should reduce the taxes that are placed on unnecessary programs that don't benefit us as much as they cost and then tax the most inelastic goods because then that will make the people purchase these goods.
ReplyDeleteIn order to reduce the deficit, we should reduce military spending and tax inelastic things a little bit more so we pay off the debt now misted of having to pay it later. Also, we should stop spending money on things that aren't helping our country.
ReplyDeleteTo reduce the deficit the government should spend less money on inefficient programs whose cost is greater than their benefit. Also, consumers should spend more money, and the proportion of taxes that are intended for military purproses should be decreased.
ReplyDeleteTo reduce the deficit The government should raise taxes on things like alcohol, cigarettes, fatty foods, things that people don't need or shouldn't be using, they should also cut programs that aren't being efficient or that aren't doing anything because I'm sure there are lot of them that are like that.
ReplyDeleteThe government should tax negative and highly inelastic products to create revenue. The government. Should not cut programs and it should not increase the income tax. The government should continue borrowing money so the economy can rest able itself and when that happens, then the governement should consider paying back it's debt
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