America’s Fiscal Policy

The American economy is grounded and influenced by what is called fiscal policy.  Fiscal policy is where the government collects revenues through taxation and spends money through expenditures to generate a stable economy.  The American economy, however, is threatened by a national debt that is over $18 trillion.  How did this occur?  It did not happen overnight.

One can make the argument that the government does not tax enough to generate revenue.  Others might disagree.  On the expenditure side, some have argued that the American economy is in disarray due to the government spending too much money.  There are those, though, who believe that the government does not spend enough money to help create a stable economy.  Where do you stand on the issue?

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Ideologically Speaking on Social Issues

For this post, we’ll take a look at four political ideologies and how followers of those ideologies would stand on certain social issues.  The social issues, for the purposes of this argument, would be abortion, gay marriage, and legalizing marijuana.

ABORTION

— Those who favor a pro-choice stance on abortion:  liberals, libertarians, socialists

— Those who favor a pro-life stance on abortion:  conservatives

GAY MARRIAGE

–Those who favor gay marriage:  liberals, libertarians, and socialists

–Those who oppose gay marriage:  conservatives

LEGALIZING MARIJUANA

–Those who favor the legalization of marijuana:  liberals, libertarians, socialists

–Those who oppose the legalization of marijuana:  conservatives

Let’s go back to an earlier post on ideologies.  In that post, you’ll see the relationship between the size and scope of government and how government subsequently handles economic issues.  Socialists believe in a more active federal government when it comes to the economy, while libertarians believe in a “hands off” government when dealing with economic issues.  Liberals and conservatives are somewhere in between those two ideologies.  What we haven’t defined is the idea of the size and scope of government when it comes to social issues.

Is there one particular ideology that seems to be consistent in its beliefs on both an economic and social issue scale?  (For example, do liberals take the same pro-active government approach to the economy as well as to being involved in an individual’s social decisions.  Are conservatives opposed to government intervention in both economic and social issues?)

 

 

What is Capitalism?

Adam Smith believed that the wealth accumulated by a nation was determined its own productivity.  Furthermore, Smith believed that people would be motivated to create this wealth, and subsequently enjoy it as well.  This is fundamental basis for the idea and practice known as capitalism.  Some believe that capitalism works best with the least amount of government interference possible.  Others believe that capitalism, left alone, creates greed.  Where do you stand on the idea of capitalism?  Does it work best without government interaction?  Is greed a result of capitalism? Is there a middle ground between government interaction with capitalism and laissez-faire capitalism? Below is clip from The Phil Donahue Show (1979) where Donahue’s guest is the late University of Chicago Economics Professor Milton Friedman.  Friedman’s response to Donahue may help you with your response.

America’s Fiscal Policy

The American economy is grounded and influenced by what is called fiscal policy.  Fiscal policy is where the government collects revenues through taxation and spends money through expenditures to generate a stable economy.  The American economy, however, is threatened by a national debt that is over $18 trillion.  How did this occur?  It did not happen overnight.

One can make the argument that the government does not tax enough to generate revenue.  Others might disagree.  On the expenditure side, some have argued that the American economy is in disarray due to the government spending too much money.  There are those, though, who believe that the government does not spend enough money to help create a stable economy.  Where do you stand on the issue?  Leave comments after the poll as well to defend your response.

For more insight, please visit this site.

What is Capitalism?

Adam Smith believed that the wealth accumulated by a nation was determined its own productivity.  Furthermore, Smith believed that people would be motivated to create this wealth, and subsequently enjoy it as well.  This is fundamental basis for the idea and practice known as capitalism.  Some believe that capitalism works best with the least amount of government interference possible.  Others believe that capitalism, left alone, creates greed.  Where do you stand on the idea of capitalism?  Does it work best without government interaction?  Is greed a result of capitalism? Is there a middle ground between government interaction with capitalism and laissez-faire capitalism? Below is clip from The Phil Donahue Show (1979) where Donahue’s guest is the late University of Chicago Economics Professor Milton Friedman.  Friedman’s response to Donahue may help you with your response.