Verified Document

Macroeconomic Situation In The U.S.: Corrective Fiscal Essay

¶ … Macroeconomic Situation in the U.S.: Corrective Fiscal and Monetary Policy December 2007 marked the onset of the Great recession, which ended in mid-2009 but left the U.S. economy struggling through the damage wrought by its severity. Federal policy has gone a long way in the prevention of an occurrence of another recession, but growth remains too sluggish and inadequate for the full-health restoration of the economy. Vigorous and sustained fiscal and monetary support is needed if the economy is to recover and achieve the pre-depression employment level.

Save for the temporary hiring of census officials, the overall economy recorded a drastic fall in employment levels during the last half of 2009. In December 2012, the unemployment rate was reported at 8.1% - approximately 3.5 percentage points above the average rate in 2007, at the end of which the Great Recession struck (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014). This rate further exceeds the peak rates recorded in the wake of previous recessions experienced at the beginning of the 20th and the 21st centuries (BLS, 2014). The tabular representation below shows the unemployment rates between 2007 and 2012.

Unemployment Rates between 2007 and 2012

Jan

March

May

July

September

November

Annual

2007

4.6

4.4

4.4

4.7

4.7

4.7

4.6

2008

5.0

5.1

5.4

5.8

6.1

6.8

5.7

2009

7.8

8.7

9.4

9.5

9.8

9.9

9.1

2010

9.7

9.9

9.6

9.5

9.5

9.8

9.7

2011

9.1

9.0

9.0

9.0

9.0

8.6

9.0

2012

8.2

8.2

8.2

8.2

7.8

7.8

8.1

(Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014).

Prior to...

The depression, however, brought in its wake, rampant price instability, with the average annual rate of inflation falling to an all-time low of -0.4% in 2009, from 3.8% in 2008, as depicted in the tabular representation below.
Annual Inflation Rates from 2003 to 2012

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2.3%

2.7%

3.4%

3.2%

2.8%

3.8%

-0.4%

1.6%

3.2%

2.1%

(Source: U.S. Inflation, 2013)

The declining unemployment rates and the price stability between 2011 and 2011 are positive indicators of the U.S. policy makers' commitment to restoring the economy to the pre-depression economic levels, and steering it to full employment.

The Great Recession inflicted significant damage, especially upon the middle and low-income earning Americans. At the core of this is a fall in the aggregate demand, which is a problem that is imminently solvable through accommodative federal fiscal and monetary policy (Greenlaw, Hamilton, Hooper & Mishkin, 2013).

Fiscal policy is the use of taxes and government spending to achieve stabilization in the economy (Greenlaw, Hamilton, Hooper & Mishkin 2013). During recession, Congress should stimulate demand by i) increasing government spending, and ii) reducing taxes (inflationary fiscal policy). The former 'primes the pump' in the economy, whereas a tax reduction ensures that people have more income at their disposal, with which they can make more purchases (Council for Economic Education, 2014).

Both methods stimulate aggregate demand and induce firms to increase their production, hire more workers and increase the incomes of these workers so as to increase their purchasing ability (Council for Economic Education, 2014). Increased government spending would be more effective than a tax-cut because the former "has a direct effect on aggregate demand" (Council for Economic Education, 2013). There is no guarantee that consumers would spend…

Sources used in this document:
References

Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2014). Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey. Bureau of Labor Force Statistics. Retrieved from http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14

Council for Economic Education. (2013). Fiscal and Monetary Policy Process. Council for Economic Education. Retrieved from http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.php?lid=352&type=student

Greenlaw, G., Hamilton, J. Hooper, P. & Mishkin, F. (2013). Crunch Time: Fiscal Crises and the Role of Monetary Policy (No w19297). National Bureau of Economic Research.

US Inflation. (2013). U.S. Inflation Rate. U.S. Inflation. Retrieved from http://usinflation.org/us-inflation-rate/
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Fiscal Policy What Are the Three Major
Words: 1369 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Fiscal Policy What are the three major categories of revenues for the federal government? Please comment on each and indicate their relative importance to each other. Relative importance can be indicated by dollar amounts, percent of total revenue or expenditure or, though less informative, by ranking. The three categories of revenues for the federal government include: individual income taxes, corporate income taxes and social insurance taxes. These areas are interconnected to each

Fiscal Policy the Three Major Categories of
Words: 1291 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Fiscal Policy The three major categories of revenue for the federal government are individual income taxes, corporate income taxes and social insurance taxes. The most important of these are the individual income taxes, which represent 55.1% of the total budget revenues, or $1.396 trillion. The second-most important revenue category is the social insurance taxes, which account for $978 billion, or 34.6% of the total budget revenues. The third-most important category is

Fiscal Policy Is a Very
Words: 1513 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

Even the state needs resources, so it may decide to borrow money from the bank. JP Morgan could also emit bonds for the government, and a nice fee could be made out of that. However, should government spending be excessive, this could lead to inflation, which would seriously affect the bank's activity and profit margins. The ways in which JP Morgan would feel the effects of fiscal policies are countless.

Fiscal Policy Federal Debt and
Words: 1399 Length: 5 Document Type: Research Proposal

Ergo, economic growth through the private sector is not possible without federal deficit. In his own words, "while it is commonly believed that continual budget deficits will bankrupt the nation, in reality, those budget deficits are the only way that our private sector can save and accumulate net financial wealth" (Wray, 2009). 3. The Reformation of Entitlement Programs The article selected to answer the question relative to the future strategies that

Fiscal Policy of the United States Is
Words: 931 Length: 3 Document Type: Case Study

Fiscal policy of the United States is one of increased spending to help stimulate the economy. A good example of this can be seen with the President's proposal to spend $447 billion on encouraging employers to hire new workers and through government infrastructure projects. While at the same time, it is providing assistance to the states to help hire police officers, fireman and teachers. These different elements are important, because

Fiscal Policy Between 2007 and 2009 the
Words: 546 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Fiscal Policy Between 2007 and 2009 the U.S. economy experienced a severe recession. In an effort to stimulate the economy, the federal government passed a stimulus package. Explain the federal government's use of fiscal policy (the stimulus) to promote growth and employment. Support your ideas with concepts found in the assigned reading. Include the following in your response: Government spending can contribute a significant amount of economic activity into the economy. When

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now