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65 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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How does the Fed stimulate the economy temporarily when demand weakens?
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lowering interest rates
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Open Market Operations
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Fed buys or sells securities issued by the government to influence short-term interest rates and the volume of money and credit in the economy
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Rates of Interest: how to slow down the economy
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make money more costly
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Federal Funds Rate
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the interest rate at which banks borrow surplus reserves and other immediately available funds
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Reserve Requirements
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amount required to keep on deposit to cover outstanding loans as percentage of total amount out in loans
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What the government should do if it wants to stimulate the economy (increase growth and reduce unemployment)
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run a budget deficit
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current Federal Funds rate (in crisis)
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near zero: can't be lowered much more because interest rates can't be negative
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Progressive Tax
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a tax by which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases. ex: income tax
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Regressive Tax
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a tax in which low income people tend to spend a higher percentage of their income than higher income people. ex: sales tax, property tax
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3 ways Health Insurance "Exchange" is intended to create a more organized and competitive market for health insurance
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1. offering a choice of plans
2. establishing common rules regarding the offering and pricing of insurance 3. providing info to help consumers better understand their available options |
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3 issues in American Education Policy
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1. equal opportunity vs. equal outcomes
2. social integration and assimilation 3. emphasis on local and parental control |
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school board
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represents the community's beliefs and values
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tax that provides public education funding
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local property tax (30%)
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NCLB Changes (5)
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1. new goal of college and career readiness by 2020
2. performance tests in subjects other than math & English 3. evaluations less punitive, offer more rewards for high-achieving schools; new multi-tiered system 4. federal funding would change to competitive grants (Race to the Top program) 5. schools that miss targets wouldn't have to provide students with tutoring or transfer offer |
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3 support programs in need of reform
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1. unemployment insurance
2. cash welfare 3. Food assistance (SNAPS) |
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what does the safety net acknowledge
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most workers will have short spells of non-work driven by personal circumstances and family needs
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Social Insurance: define
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system of public insurance under which a national community may guarantee a collective base of economic security for each other against the uncertainties of modern life
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social insurance vs. means tested: what is the difference?
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social insurance: everybody who pays in gets a benefit
means-tested: there are different thresholds by which state or government will determine whether someone is eligible for those benefits |
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two parts of social security
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Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI), Disability Insurance (DI)
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OASI: what type of person does it benefit?
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retired workers, spouses and dependent children, and survivors of deceased workers
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DI: who does it benefit?
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disabled workers who haven't yet reached retirement age and their families
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Part A of Medicare
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hospitalization plan; financed through payroll
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Part B of Medicare
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supplementary program covering doctors fees. Financed through monthly premium and subject to deductibles/coinsurance
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Part C of Medicare
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advantage plans- allows choice of private insurance option
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Part D of Medicare
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prescription drug plans
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Medicaid- what is its largest cost?
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funds medical care of the "medically indigent", largest cost is nursing home care
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what type of families is the safety net meant to help?
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WORKING families
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Earned Income Tax Credit- what kind of tax is it? what does it depend on? what is its goal?
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Regressive tax: you can get more back than you owe in taxes. it depends on income, marital status, number of kids. an attempt to help parents support their children and to boost families above the poverty line
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Child Tax Credit- how much per child and what age?
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up to $1,000 per child under age 17.
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Minimum Wage- what does Obama want to do to it?
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Obama wants to index minimum wage so it increases with the cost of living
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what must a family of 3 with a minimum wage worker do to get above the poverty line?
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receive the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit
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what is a nonrefundable tax credit?
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a tax credit that can reduce your tax liability to zero but not below
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what is a refundable tax credit?
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can reduce your tax liability below zero. it is called refundable because it is possible to receive a refund from this type of credit.
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Should tax credits be refundable? Yes argument
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the desired social policy can be carried out only by making credits refundable; low-income households most in need of assistance would be denied benefit of the credits if they weren't refundable
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Should tax credits be refundable? No argument
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tax code should not redistribute income; government shouldn't use tax code to carry out social policies; everyone should pay some tax as a responsibility of citizenship
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Federal Poverty line for a family of four
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$22,000
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How to build economic security
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invest in human capital through education and training programs that help workers prepare for higher-wage jobs
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what is foreign policy designed to do?
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protect a country's national interests, national security, ideological goals, and economic prosperity
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foreign policy outlines how a country will interact with other countries in what ways?
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economically, politically, socially, and militarily
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Obama's goal in the Middle East
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to disrupt, dismantle, defeat al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan and prevent their return to either country in the future
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Iraq- when will our combat mission end and what will our forces' 3 tasks be?
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Combat mission supposed to bed by Aug 31, 2010.
3 tasks: 1. train, equip, advise Iraqi Security Forces 2. conduct targeted counterterrorism operations 3. provide force protection for military and civilian personnel |
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Obama's strategy to address international nuclear threat- 3 steps
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1. reduce and eventually eliminate existing nuclear arsenals
2. ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and completion of a verified Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty 3. halt proliferation of nuclear weapons to additional states and prevent terrorists from acquiring nuclear weapons or materials |
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Middle East Goal
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a lasting peace between Israel and its neighbors
US supports this goal |
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Homeland security- 7 defensible definitions
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1. terrorism
2. all hazards 3. terrorism and catastrophe 4. jurisdictional hazards 5. meta hazards 6. national security 7. security uber allies |
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Political and Policy Problems post 9-11
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1. level of security public officials can responsibly guarantee
2. continual trade-off between privacy and protection |
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why was Guantanamo Bay created?
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to imprison "the worst of the worst" terrorism suspects
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Prosecution of Terrorists: Law of Armed Conflict
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enemy fighters captured in battle can be treated as combatants but terrorists and sympathizers living among civilians aren't.
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First Civilian Court Case: person's name, what happened, why it fueled debate further
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Ghailani was tried in civilian court under Obama's policy of treating acts of war as law enforcement issues; failure to convict Ghailani on most serious terrorism charges helps argument to keep Guantanamo Bay open
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Foreign Aid: Foreign assistance is financial flows, technical assistance, and commodities that are: (2)
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1.designed to promote economic development and welfare as main objective
2. provided as grants or subsidized loans |
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3 categories of financial aid
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1. Official Development Assistance (ODA)
2. Official Assistance (OA) 3. Private Voluntary Assistance |
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Official Development Assistance
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from donor governments: the largest, consists of aid provided by donor governments to low- and middle- income countries
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Official Assistance
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provided by governments to richer countries (per capita incomes higher than around $9,000) and to countries formerly part of the Soviet Union or its satellite.
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Private Voluntary Assistance
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grants from NGOs, religious groups, charities, foundations, private companies
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Bilateral Assistance
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majority of aid; directly from one country to another
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Multilateral Assistance
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pools together resources from many donors.
Ex: The UN Development Program, the American Red Cross |
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Why give foreign aid? 4 objectives
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1. stimulate economic growth
2. strengthen education, health, environmental, or political systems 3. support subsistence consumption of food and other commodities 4. stabilize an economy following economic shocks |
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issues faced by aid agencies
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indirect relationship between people providing and the beneficiaries
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Foreign aid reforms to solve the principal-agent problem (4)
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1. greater donor selectivity in choosing aid recipients
2. increased recipient participation in setting priorities and designing programs 3. streamlining aid bureaucracies, increasing donor coordination 4. establishing clearer goals for aid and stronger monitoring of aid-financed activities |
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6 goals of the World Health Organization
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1. promoting development
2. fostering health security 3. strengthening health systems 4. harnessing research, information and evidence 5. enhancing partnerships 6. improving performance |
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3 E's
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Election, Environment, Energy
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Election=
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Agenda, Alternatives & Policy
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Environmental Policy
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to manage human activities in an effort to prevent, reduce, or mitigate harmful effects
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Externality
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-the rationale for government involvement in the environment market failure in the form of externalities
-a cost incurred by a party who did not agree to the action causing the cost (eg. second hand smoke) |
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What issues does energy policy address?
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energy development: energy production, distribution, and consumption
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Victim Compensation Fund
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BP, the multi-national corporation, agreed to set up a $20 billion escrow fund and have lawyer Kenneth Feinburg independently administer it
-fishing industry -hospitality tourism -property damage |
