A good (or service) provided for all of society; no one is excluded from use of a public good
Quasi-Public Good
A government provided good that could be sold in a private market
Transfer Payments
Money from the government for which no direct work is required in return.
Social Insurance Program
Contributions from an individual's wages are made to a fund from which that individual may draw when eligible for benefits.
Progressive Tax
A tax reflecting a direct relationship between the percentage of income taxed and the size of the income.
Proportional Tax (Flat Tax)
A tax equal to the same percentage of income regardless of the size of the income.
Regressive Tax
A tax reflecting an inverse relationship between the percentae of income taxed and the size of the income.
Tax Reform
Changes in tax policies and structures.
Tax Bracket Indexation
A policy of adjusting income tax brackets to account for inflation.
Tax Reform Act of 1986
Major legislation that changed federal income tax exemptions, deductions, brackets and rates.
Tax Base
The particular thing on which a tax is levied.
Tax Rate
The amount that is levied on the base.
Tax Abatement
A policy of reducing or eliminating a tax that would normally be charged.
Fiscal Policy
Influencing the levels of aggregate output and employment or prices through changes in federal government purchases, transfer payments and or taxes.
Discretionary Fiscal Policy
Deliberate changes in government expenditures and/or taxes to control unemployment or demand-pull inflation.
Automatic Fiscal Policy (Automatic Stabilization)
Changes in government expenditures and/or taxes that occur automatically as the level of economic activity changes; helps to control unemployment or demand-pull inflation.
Balanced Budget
A government's total expenditures equal its total revenues.
Surplus Budget
A government's revenues are greater than its expenditures.
Deficit Budget
A government's expenditures are greater than its revenues.
Unified Budget
A budget that assembles all federal government receipts and outlays, and the resulting overall deficit or surplus, in one report.
Trust Fund
A restricted fund; payments from this fund are specified as to recipents and/or uses.
Entitlement
Programs set up by the government to pay benefits to people who meet the eligibility requirements of the programs.
On Budget/Off Budget
Categories of the unified budget established by Congress; generally refers to programs that have immediately controllable and noncontrollable receipts and expenses, respectively.
Public Choice
The study of the economic motives and attitudes of voters and public officials and how those motives and attitudes affect government decision making.
National Debt
The accumulation total debit of the federal government due to deficit spending.
U. S. Treasury Security
Issued by the federal government in return for funds lent to it.
U. S. Treasury Bill, Note, and Bond
U. S. Treasury securities that mature, respectively, in one year or less; one to ten years; and 10 or more years.
Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS)
U. S. Treasury securities with face values that rise when the economy experiences inflation.
Debt Service
The cost of maintaining a debt; generally measured in interest costs.
Crowding Out
Occurs when borrowing by the federal government reduces borrowing by households and businesses.