Entitlement Spending in Historical Perspective
The real economic sacrifice imposed on the country by government borrowin" rel="nofollow">ing could be zero or could be substantial dependin" rel="nofollow">ing on what the government does with the money. In the article "Entitlements, Public Investment, and the Changin" rel="nofollow">ing Nature of the U.S. Government" on Tim Taylor's blog, Conversable Economist, we fin" rel="nofollow">ind that “what the government does with the money” has been changin" rel="nofollow">ing over time in" rel="nofollow">in a consistent manner.
I want you to consider three poin" rel="nofollow">ints related to that article:
1. How has the composition of government spendin" rel="nofollow">ing changed sin" rel="nofollow">ince the 1960s? Support your answer with examples from the article.
2. Then explain" rel="nofollow">in how the various categories of federal government spendin" rel="nofollow">ing (such as spendin" rel="nofollow">ing on entitlements, in" rel="nofollow">infrastructure, basic research) qualify as either consumption or in" rel="nofollow">investment spendin" rel="nofollow">ing. In your answer, be sure to defin" rel="nofollow">ine the terms “consumption” and “in" rel="nofollow">investment.”
3. Explain" rel="nofollow">in how the changin" rel="nofollow">ing pattern of government spendin" rel="nofollow">ing affects the real economic burden of the national debt. (Two paragraphs)
Here's the URL for the article in" rel="nofollow">in case the lin" rel="nofollow">ink doesn't work for you:
https://conversableeconomist.blogspot.com/2012/08/entitlements-public-in" rel="nofollow">investment-and.html