Why is interest on the national debt a budget problem, and why has it been so difficult to solve?
What will be an ideal response?
Interest on the national debt is a significant problem largely because of its size; interest payments already make up more of the budget than many executive agencies and will soon grow even larger. The solutions are fairly simple—tax more, spend less, combine the two, and/or foster economic growth. But those solutions around taxing and spending are politically controversial because constituents would rather not do either of these things, especially when they are not seeing a tangible benefit.
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One way of testing the hypothesis that high welfare state spending
caused slow economic growth in European countries in the 1970s would be to: a. use average total welfare spending in each country in the 1970s as the independent variable and average GDP growth rates as the dependent variable. b. use average GDP growth rates in the 1970s as the independent variable and average welfare spending as a percentage of GDP as the dependent variable. c. use average GDP growth rates in the 1970s as the independent variable and total welfare spending in each country as the dependent variable. d. use average welfare spending in the 1970s as a percentage of GDP as the independent variable and average GDP growth rates as the dependent variable.
What accounts for the fact that executive institutions are particularly dominant in developing nations?
a. Legislatures are typically weak in developing systems. b. Chief executives in developing systems often enjoy charismatic authority by virtue of having led a successful revolutionary movement. c. The chief executives in developing systems are often leaders of all-powerful parties. d. All of the above are true.
Which is a way that contemporary U.S. federalism has been described?
a. Categorical b. Coercive c. Cooperative d. Concurrent
Which of the following countries is not part of the Global South?
a. Indonesia b. Burundi c. Costa Rica d. New Zealand e. Nigeria