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In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government budget or revenue collection (taxation) and expenditure (spending) to influence economic. Contractionary fiscal policy, which occurs when government spending is lower than tax revenue, and is usually undertaken to pay down government debt.
The federal budget is an itemized plan for the annual public expenditures of the United States. It is used to finance a variety of federal expenses, which range from paying federal employees, to dispersing agricultural subsidies, to paying for U.S. military equipment.
When the amount of money the government collects in taxes and other revenue in a given year is less than the amount it spends, the difference is called the deficit. If the government takes in more money than it spends, the excess is called a surplus.
a. An outlay in layperson’s terms is a payment. All payments by the federal government track back to congressionally created appropriations accounts. The federal government makes payments for a wide range of goods and services, e.g. contracts, financial assistance awards, and personnel compensation.
Outlays. Outlays are money paid out by the U.S. Treasury; they occur when obligations are actually paid off, primarily by issuing checks or making electronic fund transfers.
outlays – Outlays are payments made (generally through the issuance of checks or disbursement of cash) to liquidate obligations. Outlays during a fiscal year may be for payment of obligations incurred in prior years or in the same year.
Mandatory—or direct—spending includes spending for entitlement programs and certain other payments to people, businesses, and state and local governments. Mandatory spending is generally governed by statutory criteria; it is not normally set by annual appropriation acts.
During FY2019, the federal government spent $4.45 trillion, up $338 billion or 7.1% vs. FY2018 spending of $4.11 trillion. Spending increased for all major categories and was mainly driven by higher spending for Social Security, net interest on the debt, and defense.
Eligibility rules The amount of money spent on each program each year is determined by how many people are eligible and apply for benefits. Congress does not decide each year to increase or decrease the budget for Social Security or other earned benefit programs.
Discretionary Spending: Refers to spending set by annual appropriation levels made by decision of Congress. This spending is optional, and in contrast to entitlement programs for which funding is mandatory. Mandatory spending refers to funds not controlled by annual decision of Congress.
Mandatory spending includes entitlement programs, such as Social Security, Medicare, and required interest spending on the federal debt. Mandatory spending accounts for about two-thirds of all federal spending.
Social Security is an example. Entitlement spending is a subset of mandatory spending. Interest payments on the federal debt are usually thought of as mandatory but are not usually thought of as entitlements. Social Security is also an example of entitlement spending.
The two types of government spending are goods and services and transfer payments.
Major expenditure categories are healthcare, Social Security, and defense; income and payroll taxes are the primary revenue sources. The expenditures of the United States federal government as a percentage of GDP over time.
The largest category of federal spending is for social programs including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
Terms in this set (17)
What are the five largest federal expenses? health and human services, department of defense, treasury department, department of agriculture, and department of education.
23 percent
Nearly 60 percent of mandatory spending in 2019 was for Social Security and other income support programs (figure 3). Most of the remainder paid for the two major government health programs, Medicare and Medicaid.
The largest sources of revenues are individual income taxes and payroll taxes followed by corporate income taxes.