Professor Mac Only

Answer the Weekly Reading Questions Below. Since you only have one submission attempt, I recommend working on this document in a Word document so that you may come and go as you like.  Please note that answers should be written in your own words and not copied directly from any website or the text. Please share sources with submissions. ______________________

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, an interest group, has created a mock federal budget. Copy and past http://crfb.org/stabilizethedebt (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. into your browser

Read the summary. To begin the simulation, click the "Next" button above. Your goal is to stabilize the debt at a reasonable level which is the first step in improving our fiscal health. Steadying debt held by the public at 70% of the economy in 10 years is a realistic level for the near term.

There are eight categories where your choices will affect the debt. Negative numbers next to a choice indicate how much the debt will be reduced, positive numbers add to the debt. Use the "Next" and "Back" buttons to navigate to each section; do not use your browser's navigation arrows. Click the "Done" button when finished making all the choices you want. The bar graph on the right will chart how your choices affect the debt-to-GDP ratio relative to the 70% goal. Visit the FAQ page for more on how the exercise works. .

1) What Investments did you make? Why? 2) Did you cut anything?  What and why? 3) Were you able to stabilize the U.S. Debt at 70% of GDP by 2029? If not, when? 4) What policies and departments do you think are most important to protect in the US Budget? 5) Do you think the current US Congress can reach an agreement on the budget by the due date this year? Can they balance the budget? Why or why not?