Determine whether each of the following is an example of discretionary fiscal policy action.

a. A recession occurs, and government-funded unemployment compensation is paid to laid-off workers.

b. Congress votes to fund a new jobs program designed to pat unemployed workers to work.

c. The Federal Reserve decides to reduce the quantity of money in circulation in an effort to slow inflation.

d. Under powers authorized by an act of Congress, the president decides to authorize an emergency release of funds for spending programs intended to head off economic crises.

Short Answer

Expert verified

a) This situation is not a suitable example of discretionary policy action

b) This situation is an example of discretionary policy action

c) This situation is not a suitable example of discretionary policy action

d) This situation is an example of discretionary policy action

Step by step solution

01

:Introduction 

The given is the situation of the discretionary Fiscal policy actions

The objective is to determine the situations are the example of the policy actions

02

Explanation (part a)

(a)

No, this is not an instance of discretionary budgetary policy. This is due to the fact that unemployment compensation is a special automatic fiscal policy that is provided to laid-off workers.

And, without government intervention, such automatic stabilizers will produce shifts in aggregate demand.

03

(Part b)

(b) Yes, this is an example of discretionary fiscal policy because the government took voluntary action to pursue a new economic goal of providing jobs for unemployed persons.

04

Explanation (part c)

(c) This is not an example of fiscal policy with discretion. Because such measures of an increase or decrease in the quantity of money in circulation are referred to as monetary policy rather than fiscal policy, they are referred to as such.

When the economy is hit by inflation, the Federal Reserve reduces the amount of money in circulation to combat it.

05

Explanation (part d)

(d) This is an example of discretionary fiscal policy since the president used discretionary authority to allow the flow of emergency money for the purpose of spending scheduled projects to avoid economic emergencies.

As a result, it contributes to the achievement of national economic objectives.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Consider the diagram below, in which the current short-run equilibrium is at point A, and answer the questions that follow.

a. What type of gap exists at point A?

b. If the marginal propensity to save equals 0.02, what change in government spending financed by borrowing from the private sector could eliminate the gap identified in part (a)? Explain.

1. Other things being equal, what features of a nation's economy do you think would tend to contribute to a higher value for its stabilization coefficient? [Hint: Consider the chapter's discussion of the reasons fiscal policy actions tend to have larger effects on real GDP.)

Currently, a government's budget is balanced. The marginal propensity to consume is \(0.80. The government has determined that each additional \)10 billion it borrows to finance a budget deficit pushes up the market interest rate by role="math" localid="1651613391961" 0.1 percentage point. It has also determined that every role="math" localid="1651613378175" 0.1-percentage point change in the market interest rate generates a change in planned investment expenditures equal to \(2 billion. Finally, the government knows that to close a recessionary gap and take into account the resulting change in the price level, it must generate a net rightward shift in the aggregate demand curve equal to \)200 billion. Assuming that there are no direct expenditure offsets to fiscal policy, how much should the government increase its expenditures? (Hint: How much private investment spending will each $10 billion increase in government spending crowd out?)

Determine whether each of the following is an example of an automatic fiscal stabilizer.

a. A federal agency must extend loans to businesses whenever an economic downturn begins.

b. As the economy heats up, the resulting increase in equilibrium real GDP per year immediately results in higher income tax payments, which dampen consumption spending somewhat.

c. As the economy starts to recover from a severe recession and more people go back to work, government-funded unemployment compensation payments begin to decline.

d. To stem an overheated economy, the president, using special powers granted by Congress, authorizes emergency impoundment of funds that Congress had previously authorized for spending on govemment programs.

If a government agency decided to fund the construction of a private hospital in an area in which other private hospitals already are just breaking even, why might one of the other private hospitals cancel plans to expand the size of its facility?

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