Up: Course Administration: ECO304L

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Budget Assignment:

This project has two purposes

• Group cooperation so that you will bond and make a great show in the contest
• Prepare information for the first exam. The material you prepare covers current events

Assignment

Each group is to prepare a Word( if you want to use another wordprocessor, please check with me first.) document from between 5 and 10 pages. Give me a printed copy and a copy on a diskette (in HTML format if possible--HTML is one option in saving documents in Word or other wordprocessors). I will grade the projects and place the best on the internet so that you will have information to prepare the current events for the first exam. Prizes for this contest. If I select your project you get 2 points to be added to your average at the end of the 2nd exam. For example, 78 goes to 80 and gets you a B.

 

 

Graphs and Tables

Include in your project:

• Make up three pages of tables and graphs showing:
  • Sources of federal revenue
  • Categories of government expenditures
  • Trends
    • Deficit since 63
    • Categories in revenue and expenditures chosen above

Hint: You could break this down into literally thousands of sources and categories. This is a first course in economics. Keep it condensed to around 10 of each. Major categories like interest on the debt, military, medical programs, social security, and so on

• Questions to answer in the report

• What % of the budget is controllable in the budget process.
• What % requires changing the law.
• How many years since 63 has the government run a surplus. Why?
• Are there a great many items that Congress and the President ( he no longer cares) can cut without losing votes. For example who are the AARP and what will they do if Congress or the President starts messing with programs for the aged.
• Do we spend more on the aged or children? What are the possible consequences.
• What are the differences between Democrats and Republicans on:
  • Military
  • Use of the surplus (What are the politics of this?)
  • Social programs