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APPLICATION:
The Congressional Budget Office as Gatekeepers
•The methods and results derived from
empirical economics
are central
to the development of public policy at all levels of government.
•The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) “scores”
policy proposals by estimating their budget implications.
•CBO scoring uses the theoretical and
empirical tools of public finance.
•CBO scores can determine the fate of
legislation.
Decentralization
•A key feature of governments is the
degree of centralization
across local and national government units.
•Centralization:
The extent to which spending is concentrated
at higher (federal) levels or lower (state and local) levels.
•In the United States, state and
local spending is about one-fourth of total government spending.
Distribution of Spending
•Public goods:
Goods for which the investment of any one individual benefits everyone in a
larger group.
oExample:
Defense spending
•Social insurance programs: Government
provision of insurance against adverse events to address failures in the
private insurance market.
oExample:
Health insurance
•Over time, spending has shifted
dramatically toward social insurance, especially health insurance.
Regulatory Role of the Government
The
government regulates a wide range of economic and social activities:
•The Food and Drug Administration (FDA): food, cosmetics, drugs, and medical devices.
• The Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA):
workplace safety.
•The Federal Communications Commission
(FCC): radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable.
•The Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA): pollution of air, water, and food supplies.
Why Study Public Finance Now? Policy
Debates over
Social Security, Health Care, and Education
Many
heated policy debates concern the impact of major public programs:
•The role of Social Security, health
care, and education are all contentious subjects.
•“Liberal” and “Conservative”
positions hold differing views on how to approach these major policy issues.
Why Study Public Finance Now? Social Security
Social
Security is the single largest government expenditure program.
•The financing structure of this program
is basically that today’s young workers pay the retirement benefits of today’s
old.
•As the population ages, it is
increasingly difficult to fund.
•Liberals argue that we should raise
necessary resources through higher payroll taxes.
•Conservatives argue that, rather
than transfer from young to old, we should encourage people to save.
Why Study Public Finance Now? Health Care
•49 million Americans lack
any health insurance, about 18% of the non-elderly U.S. population.
•The Affordable Care Act (ACA)
promises to cover 32 million, using mandates and subsidies.
oSupporters
argue that the ACA corrects serious market in the insurance market.
oOpponents
charge that it represents an enormous, expensive, unwarranted expansion of
government power.
Why Study Public Finance Now? Education
There
is an enormous dissatisfaction with our current educational system.
•In 2009, the United States ranked
17th in reading, 23rd in science, and 35th in math skills in a study of 65
countries.
•Will more spending improve
educational outcomes?
•Or might competition among schools
help?
Conclusion
•Government plays a central role in
the lives of all Americans.
•There is ongoing disagreement about
whether that role should expand, stay the same, or contract.
•The facts and arguments raised in
this chapter provide a backdrop for thinking about the set of public finance
issues that we explore in the remainder of this book.