Search

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also known as food stamps) offers tens of millions of American beneficiaries a crucial lifeline. This welfare benefit has been associated with better nutritional outcomes and has been linked to an efficient tool to fight hunger, improve labour market outcomes for the beneficiaries, achieve higher birth weight for children born to the beneficiary mothers, improve height and health outcomes for the beneficiaries. SNAP has been found to be an essential tool to ensure the availability of vital resources during times of need, etc. Despite the program's numerous advantages, serious doubts exist about its viability and stability of the program especially, given the steep rise in program costs over the years. Over the past 50 years, SNAP has experienced tremendous growth both in terms of the number of beneficiaries and amount of spending. From over $1.82 billion in 1969 to over $113 billion in 2022, the total cost of the SNAP initiative has increased over 62 times in 53 years. This research uses data from the US Department of Agriculture to investigate the time series properties in the rise in the total expenditure devoted to the SNAP between 1969 and 2022. With and without trends, Augmented Dickey-Fuller tests are run with carefully chosen lag lengths. The existence of a unit root cannot be rejected in all specifications pointing to the possibility that the program might have grown in an unstable manner over time. An overwhelming amount of evidence points to an unstable and unstable growth in the overall amount spent on SNAP recipients. This unchecked growth may present substantial difficulties for policymakers especially since the program competes with other welfare programs in an environment of rapidly rising national debt and persistent budget deficits. The report does not attempt to estimate program fraud or abuse which may partially contribute to higher expenditures.

This mathematical model is based on a system of two non-linear delay differential equations representing GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth and national debt respectively. Growth of GDP is directly proportional to national debt. In the absence of national debt, there could be no or very slow GDP growth. The national debt is heavily dependent on external loans and external investments. These investments act as a catalyst for accelerating the rate of GDP. It is assumed that the external debt is never paid off fully. The availability of external investments is not immediate as per demand but takes some time for the maturation of the deal. The time delay in actual arrival of the foreign investment and its effect on GDP-National debt dynamics is the main focus of this study. This effect is studied using a delay parameter τ. The non-zero equilibrium of the system is calculated, and the stability analysis is performed on it. Hopf bifurcation is observed for a critical value of the delay parameter. Numerical simulation is performed using MATLAB code.

This mathematical model is based on a system of two non-linear delay differential equations representing GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth and national debt respectively. Growth of GDP is directly proportional to national debt. In the absence of national debt, there could be no or very slow GDP growth. The national debt is heavily dependent on external loans and external investments. These investments act as a catalyst for accelerating the rate of GDP. It is assumed that the external debt is never paid off fully. The availability of external investments is not immediate as per demand but takes some time for the maturation of the deal. The time delay in actual arrival of the foreign investment and its effect on GDP-National debt dynamics is the main focus of this study. This effect is studied using a delay parameter τ. The non-zero equilibrium of the system is calculated, and the stability analysis is performed on it. Hopf bifurcation is observed for a critical value of the delay parameter. Numerical simulation is performed using MATLAB code. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the interaction among childcare support policies, endogenous fertility, and human capital accumulation using an overlapping-generations model, which is mainly based on Groezen, Leers and Mejidam (2003) and Cardak (2004). Although Groezen, Leers and Mejidam (2003) consider endogenous fertility and child allowances financed by tax or foreign debt in a model of a small open economy, they ignore educational expenditures and do not analyze human capital accumulation and national debt. Although Cardak (2004) considers human capital accumulation and assumes it is determined by governmental or parental expenditures on education and by parent's human capital endowments, he ignores child allowances and assumes population size is constant in each period. This study considers human capital accumulation in a model introduced childcare time with endogenous fertility and assumes that child allowances and childcare services are financed by income tax and national debt. We then consider two childcare support policies--raise child allowances or expand childcare services--and compare the effects of both policies on endogenous fertility and human capital accumulation. Moreover, we analyze dynamics of national debt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study deals with the impact of national debt on gross domestic product growth, which plays an essential role in economic development when the debt-to-GDP ratio achieves the optimal public debt ratio. The goal of this study is to comprehend the relationship between government debt and GDP growth, which becomes increasingly essential for economic development as the debt-to-GDP ratio approaches the optimal threshold of public debt. The study applied regression threshold models, unit roots, and Pearson correlation tests to the data collected in Vietnam from 2000 to 2020 to determine the optimum national debt-to-GDP threshold. The results show that the correlation between national debt-to-GDP and GDP growth was 85.2%. All the variables are stationary at the first difference and lag after one year, and the 38% threshold is the best level of national debt for GDP growth. This study contributes to the theoretical enhancement of the current knowledge of the factors that offer the Vietnamese government a point of reference for policy recommendations to control national debt successfully.

Public international law does not encompass external sovereign debt. In particular, the current status of 'odious debt', which may also be termed 'illegitimate debt', in international law epitomizes the weakness of international law with respect to external sovereign debt. Odious debt is subject to politics and ad hoc relations on the international stage. By and large, the law engages with external sovereign debt on the national level—e.g., via the national laws and the national courts of financial centers. In the event of a dispute regarding external sovereign debt, it is very rare that international law or international adjudication deal with external sovereign debt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the analysis of national and foreign scientific literature, the paper determines the main parameters of financial stability at the macro level, taking into account the characteristics of the economy of the Republic of Belarus. These parameters include the level of inflation, exchange rates, the level of dollarization of the economy, interest rate, the balance of external trade, the state of the economic entities' finances, as well as financial soundness indicators developed by the International Monetary Fund. The quantitative assessment of the inter-linkages between these parameters was carried out: a correlation matrix and regression models are constructed. The study used official statistical information published by the National Bank and the National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis for 2000-2019.

Financial stress is a significant source of anxiety for young Americans. In this paper, we provide insight into the potential impact of economics education on university students' financial anxiety. We conduct a two-phase experiment, measuring university students' financial anxiety before and then again after course coverage of observed savings behavior among Americans and the level of the national debt. We find a significant increase in reported financial anxiety after course coverage of this important topic. In contrast, an information prime has no significant impact on perceptions. We argue that more detailed course coverage increases the salience of the information and enhances student retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The U.S. national debt reached the astounding figure of 22 trillion dollars in 2018 (Gomes & Sinclair, 2019). It splashed onto the headlines of newspapers and became a topic of interest for Nobel laureate economists, dividing opinions on the potential impacts and the necessity of corrective measures. Krugman (2019) advocates that the national debt is trivial for a large economy like the U.S.; whereas, economists, such as Summers (2019), assume a more cautious position in recommending clear restrictions on the never-ending rise in the national debt. Some intriguing questions persist: should measures to restrain or reduce the debt be taken? If so, what is the ideal time to put them into effect? The purpose of this study is to analyze the reasons for the increasing U.S. national debt and to raise a discussion on the ideas of these reputed economists to address these questions. Additionally, the fundamental principles of risk management have been explained to evaluate the national debt from a different perspective (Homan, 2013). The findings of this research show that there are similarities between the theory of risk management and the risk concerns involved in the U.S. national debt. The social impact of this research includes the potential for the risk management tools identified to be used in analyzing the sovereign national debt.

This article looks at the influence of financial accounting procedures on the way that investment in education is conceptualized. This field has been dominated by the idea that investment in public institutions should be seen as contributing to the public deficit, and accounting arrangements that reduce a current charge on the public purse encouraged. Drawing on the work of Kelton and Mazzucato, the authors argue that this thinking will be a blight on educational spending in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, and that a more thorough-going debate is urgently needed to secure the future of education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy decisions, and public preferences about them, often entail judgements about costs people should be willing to pay for the benefit of future generations. Economic analyses discount policies’ future benefits based on expectations about increasing standards of living, while empirical studies in psychology have found future-oriented people are more motivated to protect the environment. In this article, using original surveys and survey experiments in four countries—Sweden, Spain, South Korea, and China—we show that support for future-oriented policies also strongly reflects people’s political trust. Focusing on policies for reducing either global warming or public debt, we find political trust operates on attitudes by shaping people’s (a) confidence in policies’ effectiveness and (b) willingness to sacrifice for others. The influence of political trust outweighs that of subjective concern, while discounting has so little impact that people who expect future generations to be richer are more, not less, willing to sacrifice.

This paper investigates how COVID-19 affects Defense Reform (DR) 2.0 in South Korea from a budget perspective. The Korean defense reform, which was launched in 2006, has rarely met its annual budget requirements. Following Korea's budget decision-making process, this paper examines the reasons for the defense budget shortfall. A vector autoregressive (VAR) analysis with annual Korean data shows that both the national debt and government budget significantly influence the defense budget. This result implies that a stable DR 2.0 stance can be maintained by an expansive fiscal policy against COVID-19 in the short term. However, COVID-19 would lead to a lower defense budget due to increasing national debt in the midterm, which limits implementation of DR 2.0. This paper's findings can help policymakers design new strategies for securing the defense budget after the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial literacy is ideally suited to be integrated into mathematics courses and taught in an interdisciplinary manner. Students learn best and are motivated when tackling real-world meaningful questions. This article shares how elementary mathematics was applied to better understand the debate about raising the minimum wage and the United States National Debt. To serve as a guide for other teachers who wish to incorporate financial literacy into their mathematics courses and take an interdisciplinary approach, this article suggests readings, data sets, and pedagogical practices. Students were engaged and enthusiastic to work on problems that challenged their thinking about financial issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over a long period, the main intrigue within the current global contradiction has been the resistance of most of the world community to the growing egoism of the USA, which is not willing to consider other countries' interests. This has become even more evident since Donald Trump's rise to power, as the frontline of the contradictions has expanded since the USA continues to ignore the others' interests. Trump's 2016 campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again," is direct evidence of the loss of the U.S.'s former leadership, and indicates that the situation in the world is going to heat up. Thus, it is important to consider the material basis of contemporary US power and whether it will allow America to be "great again" or not. The article analyzes seven (actual and potential) weaknesses of the USA—some of which, paradoxically, support its current power. But sooner or later these weaknesses will bring the USA to a crisis and topple it from its leading position. In the last part of the article, we show how we can speak of President Trump's policy as an objective (though not terribly rational) reaction to changes in the World System and the weakening of the USA's positions within it, linking his policies to the World System reconfiguration, with movement toward a new world order as a result. The novelty of the article is that the known problems of the USA are collected, systematized, their interrelations and mutual influences are shown, and forecasts made on this basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to examine the current status and components of Korean National Debt and to analyze the effects of each component on National Debt. In the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS), we searched for data such as General Accounting Deficit Conservation, For Foreign Exchange Market Stabilization, For Common Housing Stability, Local Government Net Debt Public Funds, etc that constitute National Debt. The analysis period used a total of 23 annual data from 1997 to 2019. The data collected in this study use the rate of change compared to the previous year for each component. Using this, this study attempted index analysis, numerical analysis, and model analysis. Correlation analysis result, the National Debt has a high relationship with the For Common Housing Stability. For Foreign Exchange Market Stabilization, Public Funds, etc., but has a low relationship with the Local Government Net Debt. Since 1997, National Debt has been increasing similarly to the For Foreign Exchange Market Stabilization, For Common Housing Stability and Public Funds etc. Since 2020, Korea is expected to increase significantly in terms of For Common Housing Stability and Public Funds, etc due to Corona19. At a time when the global economic situation is difficult, Korea's National Debt is expected to increase significantly due to the use of national disaster subsidies. However, if possible, the government expects to operate efficiently for economic growth and financial market stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Greek public debt restructuring that took place in 2012 through the twin scheme of the Private Sector Involvement (PSI) and the Official Sector Involvement (OSI) has had a major impact on the institutional structure of the EU economic governance. The retroactive introduction of Collective Action Clauses (CACs) into the Greek legal order that formed the legal basis for restructuring was adopted in art. 12(3) of the ESM Treaty and is now a legal obligation of all Member States. The 2012 intervention was a "workshop" in the fields of European Law, International Economic Law and Public Debt Restructuring Law. The legal structure of the 2012 intervention has successfully undergone multiple judicial reviews (GreekCourts, Courts of other EU Member States, CJEU and EGC, ECtHR, ICSID). The Greek operation of 2012 was by far the largest restructuring ofpublic debt, and at the same time a restructuring that was carried out with legal certainty, despite the involvement of many legal orders. It is therefore a point of reference for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest in the growth of tradeable securities in early modern Britain, especially its relationship to economic development and the funding of government debt, has centered mainly on the borrower – whether it be trading company, industrial enterprise, or the state. This article directs attention to the investor, using Charity Commission Reports for England and Wales that document a dramatic mid-eighteenth-century shift by donors and trustees from investments in real estate and rent charges to perpetual government annuities, mainly 3 percent Consols. The heavy investment in this public debt product is what ultimately prompted the creation of the London Stock Exchange in 1801. In analyzing this shift, which occurred among the propertied in all regions of the nation, not just the metropolis or among corporate entities and the mercantile community, I consider both what made the annuities increasingly attractive for charitable trusts and the alternatives – real estate and private loans secured by mortgage or other means – more problematic. Legal changes, I argue, played a role in the transformation, especially the Charitable Uses Act of 1736, which made charitable devises of real estate very difficult and probably resulted in reduced investment in human capital and less wealth redistribution. Regions varied, however, in the degree to which they switched from real estate in the latter part of the eighteenth century; they also differed in the extent to which the switch resulted in more gifts of interest-bearing loans as well. Admittedly, the changes documented in this article concern only one type of depository for assets, charitable trusts. The appeal of these annuities, however, could extend to investments needed for other purposes such as postmortem payments to dependents. Moreover, the fall-off in demand for real estate in trusts correlates with GDP estimates showing a steady decline in income from real assets after 1755 and what some have noted in this period as a puzzle – the lack of an increased rate of return on rents and private loans at a time of robust investment in government debt. Most importantly, though, the transition demonstrates the ability of the government to induce a broad spectrum of the propertied population to invest in securities, if the vehicle they offered had the right characteristics, which were not necessarily highest yield or liquidity without loss in value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the end of the Napoleonic War, few issues of public policy dominated discussions in England as fervently as the issue of currency and the national debt. A time of civil unrest and social radicalisation, the circulation of ideas and pamphlets was prolific. The difficulties of post-war reconstruction sparked a long debate on issues of monetary reform and repayment of the national debt. The growth of national debt increased the size of the financial market and had important consequences for a changing class dynamic in domestic political affairs. The distributional aspects of the conflict were present, as was the satirical mockery of mishandling of public affairs. In much of the subsequent scholarship the organisation of taxation and expenditure, and the financial system and the issue of currency have been analysed as separate. This chapter brings them together. In particular, it focuses on Ricardo's monetary thought and his views on public finance and contextualises them in light of his contemporaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]