Eco 372 Week 4 Learning Team Reflection

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Week four has proved to be as interesting and informing as the first three weeks. This week, our learning objective that our class and team focused on was analyzing the influence of deficit, surplus, and debt on the health of the U.S. macro economy. There was great discussion around the difference between the deficit and debt and what the role of the Fed is in the current debt-deficit situation. A deficit is the difference between receipts and outlays. Receipts are money that the Government takes in from income, excise taxes, social insurance taxes, fees, and other income. Outlays are the Government's spending on social security payments, Medicare, medical research, and interest payments on debt. When there a negative difference between receipts and outlays and monies is owed, the Government must borrow this money and this is called a deficit. Debt is the net accumulation of all the monies borrowed. Each year's deficit is added to the national debt. During a time of recession if there is a surplus, this will decline creating a deficit. A deficit will happen during a recession because workers may lose their jobs and corporation will see a decline in their profits, this decline does affect the Government’s ability to pay their debt without borrowing the monies to do so. References http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-lane-the-feds-role-in-the-debt-debate/2012/12/03/ed5951cc-3d6a-11e2-a2d9-822f58ac9fd5_story.html http://economics.about.com/od/recessions/a/budget_deficits.htm Week 4 – Learning Team Weekly Reflection Aadil Ansari, Alexandra Lyddane, Joshua Bollman, and Judy Miller ECO/372 July 1, 2013 Jack Karczewski Week four has proved to be as interesting and informing as the first three weeks. This week, our learning objective that
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